Ginny Weasley and the Deathly Hallows
by twilighthp95
Summary: Ginny's starting her 6th year at Hogwarts. Exciting, right? Normally, yes. But this year, it is the last place she wants to be. Her brother, best friend, and exboyfriend are all risking their lives, but no, it's too dangerous for Ginny! What will she do?
1. Prologue

**Hey everyone, this is a story about Ginny's sixth year at Hogwarts and how she felt the whole time Harry, Hermione, and Ron were gone. I know this has been done before but they're all different, right? So keep on reading and use the reviews to tell me how I'm doing! Also, I would like it if you told me if I did something wrong compared to the books, because I want to stay as true to them as possible. And finally- the chapters will be a lot longer than this preface! But enjoy anyway! **

**And this is my first story, so cut me some slack :**

It was the first day of my sixth year at Hogwarts. With my mother standing beside me, I walked toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. I stepped onto the platform and swallowed. There were only about half the people there usually were by this time, because after Dumbledore had been killed right there at school, all the kids had to work hard to convince their parents to let them come back this year. The biggest difference this year, for me, would be that Ron, Hermione, and Harry wouldn't be there. I was so worried about them, but did they write? No, of course not! Why would they! I was just a sister to one of them, a best friend to another, and a still-loved ex-girlfriend to the third! They had no reason to write! I sighed. I could already tell that this was going to be a _long_ year.


	2. Chapter 1

**Here's the first full chapter! Your reviews are especially important because this is the first chapter of my first-ever fanfic! So read and review! Enjoy!**

I waited around a little while, doing my best just not to show that this was basically the most miserable day of my life. Not as easy as you might think, by the way. _I wish Hermione were here,_ I thought. _Then I could talk to her about … how worried I am about her, Ron, and Harry. _ At least that made me smile for about a millisecond. I just stood there near the barrier next to my mom, who, though she was shorter than me, had somehow managed to get her arm around me. Soon enough, Luna showed up. She walked slowly over to me.

"Ginny," she said absentmindedly, "where's Hermione?" That was when, for once, I nearly started to cry. Luna stared patiently while I got myself under control before answering her with the rehearsed response- "She's traveling with her parents." Then Luna proceeded to torture me more and more by asking where Ron was. Once I had choked out the lie about him being home in bed with spattergroit, she proceeded to ask where Harry was.

"He-he … thought it would be too dangerous for him to come to school this year," I managed to squeak out. Luna made a sympathetic face and turned to watch the barrier, waiting to see who would show up this year and who wouldn't. Just then, Neville came through the barrier, looking excited and determined. He ran up to Luna and I.

"Hey, guys," he panted. "Where's the infamous trio? I wanted to talk to them. I think we should start up the DA again. It's gonna be really great to be a seventh year, and I don't want He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to get in the way of that." I could barely keep from laughing. _Sure, Neville, why don't you just send an owl to Voldemort and make sure he doesn't plan on shattering the glass during N.E.W.T.s and killing a few kids? I'm sure he'll plan it so you get your Herbology one done before you're killed, as long as you ask nicely. _But I just stifled a grin and nodded. At least there were some things that wouldn't be changing this year. But I didn't have to fight to keep a straight face when I remembered his actual question. "They're … all out for different reasons. Hermione is traveling with her parents. Harry would be in severe danger if he showed his face in a public place like school. And Ron's at home, in bed with spattergroit." As soon as I finished my rehearsed speech, my mother cleared her throat.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked me loudly, nodding in the direction of a large group of noisy people. I nodded, confused, but followed her obediently to the other side of the large group, where my friends could neither see nor hear us.

"Ginny," my mother whispered, "you can tell Neville and Luna the truth. They're good friends of yours, and as long as you make sure they can keep the secret, it's fine with me. They deserve to know. It'll only make it harder for you if you have to keep a secret from your best friends." I took a deep breath. "Okay, Mom," I whispered. "I'll tell them on the train."

Just then, the train whistled and Luna was calling softly for me. _She is so bizarre. But that's why she's my friend,_ I thought as I kissed my mom goodbye and walked towards the train. It was risky to tell Luna the secret. She wouldn't _purposely _tell the secret, but when she went off on those breathy, absentminded rants of hers, you just never knew what would come out of her mouth. I half-listened to Luna's chatter as I found a car with her and Neville, bracing myself for their reactions. I had told them three huge, far-fetched lies. Now, only about five minutes later, I was about to admit I was _living_ a lie. This would be … interesting.


	3. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone, I'd like to take a moment and explain why Ginny isn't so much like she is in the book (especially in this chapter). She's so terrified about them all being killed, how could you be cracking jokes and smiling all the time like normal? Maybe once she gets settled into a routine and is able to forget about her family, she will be more normal. Thanks! Enjoy!**

**EDITED VERSION OF CHAPTER 2**

As we all sat down, Luna and Neville were chattering excitedly about another year at school. _How on _Earth _can they be so oblivious to the fact that this year is going to be the total _opposite _of just another year at school?! _I wondered. I cleared my throat loudly to get their attention. I wanted to get this over with so that I didn't have to be thinking about all my lying the whole train ride. They kept talking. I cleared my throat again. It was more of a yell-clear, really. They … kept talking.

"GUYS!" I screamed angrily. What good were friends who didn't care when you cleared your throat?! They looked at me, shocked. I wasn't shy, but I wasn't generally a screamer, either. "I have something to tell you," I muttered, embarrassed at the sudden attention, all anger forgotten.

"Coulda just said so," muttered Neville, in a voice so low I knew for sure I wasn't meant to hear it. I was suddenly angry again and glared at him to show him I had heard his startled comment, but not bothering to inform him that I had been trying to get his attention for the past five minutes, but he had been too busy pretending his life was perfect to care or even notice. "I lied," I announced quietly, forgetting my anger again. They stared at me again, curious, confused, and not quite sure whether to yell at me for lying or ask me what was wrong because of how weird I was acting. "Ron- isn't sick. Hermione … is not away with her parents. Harry … is _not_ coward enough to leave school for his own good. I kinda hoped you'd figure that one out for yourself." I glared at them both again in unwarranted defense of my ex-boyfriend, and now it was Neville's turn to blush. Luna didn't even have the grace to blush.

She just looked at me, unblinking, and then asked calmly, "Then where are they?" I blinked at her quiet blankness, astonished, and took a moment to recover.

When I finally did, I confessed, still quietly, "They're … out ..." I paused, then blurted out, "They're gonna kill Voldemort. Okay?!" This time they both had enough sense to shriek, "WHAT?!" I could only nod miserably.

I explained, babbling at top speed, how secretive they'd been before they left, how hard Mom had tried to stop them, how she had kept them apart, how I had wished just as hard as she had for them to stay at Hogwarts, safe, warm, and close to me- even though I knew that they couldn't be safe at Hogwarts.

I explained how selfish I felt. I explained the day they'd left, how they had just disappeared, how we'd sent them a talking Patronus telling them not to answer and not knowing if they weren't answering because they had our message or because they were dead. How we _still_ didn't know that. How the Ministry was watching our whole family and how we couldn't even talk anymore, because it just wasn't worth the effort of making sure we didn't slip up and make some offhand comment about Ron, Harry, or Hermione, where they might be, or what we thought they were up to. How scared I was, knowing Harry still loved me and that we would be together if he came back, but knowing he probably wouldn't. How miserable our whole family would be if Ron died. How depressed I would be if they all got murdered and I lost the three most important people in my life, all in one blow. How miserable _Ron_ would be if _Hermione _died, which would make the _rest_ of us miserable….

And for the first time in five years, I cried.


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello! Getting ready for Thanksgiving? Madness, isn't it? Anyway. I have a poll set up in my profile, but I will tell you it here and you can answer it by placing a review instead, if you like. The poll is: Should I post my chapters as soon as I finish them, or only one a day? Answer yes or no in the reviews or go to my profile and use the official poll. My cousins are coming up for the holiday, so I won't be on as much, but I will be sure to post tomorrow's chapter anyway! Thanks! Enjoy!**

Luna let me cry for a very long time, switching seats across the aisle until she was next to me, and absent-mindedly rubbing my back for the rest of the ride. This left dear Neville alone on the other side of the long compartment and looking highly uncomfortable after my little breakdown. Neville looked started but listened to my whining and moaning without interrupting me. Soon enough, I was fresh out of tears (amazing how fast that seemed to happen when I've been storing them up for so long now- maybe tears don't keep, they might be one of those things that goes rotten) and sat sniffling awkwardly in our now-silent compartment.

"Well-uh-thanks for telling us the truth," said Neville timidly. _Ah_, I thought, _so you're one of _those. _ A guy who can't stand tears. Well, just stay away from Cho then, my friend. Speaking of whom …_

"Yes, that was very nice," agreed Luna mildly, interrupting my devious thoughts. I didn't really know what someone who was usually very calm and undramatic was supposed to say after they had a nervous meltdown- I'd never once been in this situation before, because I was usually in such good control of myself.

Just then, the trolley lady came by and knocked on the door. I had never been so glad to see someone I knew so vaguely in my entire life.

"Food, dear?" she asked kindly as she pulled open our door, with obvious effort .

"Um … five Pumpin Pasties … ten licorice wands … and twenty Chocolate Frogs," I replied quickly. The trolley lady, unlike Neville and Luna, didn't even flinch as she took in my order and handed it over. I gave her the coins that I owed and noticed Luna eyeing my Chocolate Frogs. "Get your own," I grunted, ripping the top off a licorice wand with my teeth. Hey, I like my candy! Anyway, we all got more comfortable when we were chewing and could at least pretend that was why we weren't saying anything. Well, by all I mean Neville and me. I don't think Luna even notices when it gets awkward in a room. She just spouts off random facts about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks or whatever they're called, and thinks everyone is too caught up in what she's saying to respond. She thought her dad was getting her one of those Crumple-Horned Snorkack (or whatever) horns for Christmas that year. She was really excited about it. I have never met anyone so annoyingly bizarre. But that's beside the point. It took most of the ride to finish the candy, even though we were at the font of the train and had been one of the trolley's first stops. When I finally finished all the food (with Neville's help, in the end), I changed into my robes after and joined in the excited chatter of my fellow sixth years, though inside I was as nervous as any first-year, and probably more than most.

As soon as the train stopped at the station, I was out the door. I was doing such a good job of pretending to be excited that I think I was starting to believe the charade myself. Soon I was sitting in the Great Hall, stuffing my face (again) and the waiting for the entrance of the teachers, which, for some reason, was late. Dumbledore usually loved to say a few words before the Feast even started, but this year the staff table was empty until halfway through the main course. I bit into a chicken leg as I wondered about this and was just helping my self to some mashed potatoes when the teachers finally did come into the Great Hall for the start-of-term Feast- and it hit me. Dumbledore had been dead for three months now, and the new headmaster, Severus Snape, was his murderer.


	5. Chapter 4

**HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE! This is my favorite chapter that I have written so far. Just so happens it went up on a holiday! Just to let you know, I will be putting up a new chapter daily if **_**at all**_** possible. So, read quick and go eat your turkey! I would also like to give thanks to some people because of what day it is. Thank you to the author of my favorite Harry Potter fanfiction, Greenikat89, and my best friend, Sarah, who helped me get started writing! Also thank you to all of my friends just for being supportive! And I can't forget to thank my fantastic readers!! Have a good Thanksgiving, everyone! FYI this is the second edited version of Chapter 4. I hereby apologize that I am so bad at writing.**

So, let's just say that the Feast didn't go over well with anyone but the Slytherins. I mean, sure, the food was great, but, let's face it, it would take away almost anyone's appetite if Severus Snape stood up and said, basically, "Go Voldemort!" We all stopped eating and got real quiet when Snape spoke, out of respect. I mean, it takes _work_ to get that greasy. When he was done talking, everyone (with a bit of a delayed reaction) clapped and pretended to have been listening. I won't bore you with the exact words of his speech, since I already gave you a pretty thorough summary that basically covers the whole thing.

But anyway. Back to the Feast. Snape gave his speech at the end, so afterwards it was time to go to bed, which was convenient, because I had actually seen a few first-years fall asleep while Snape was talking. He's just that boring.

However, no one over the age of twelve was actually about to go to bed. Well, other than the prefects. We all trooped up to the common room, yawning theatrically for the sake of the prefects and trying not to laugh. But as soon as the good little boys and girls had gone up to bed, someone brought out the butterbeer (which I would like to remind you is nonalcoholic … at least, we're pretty sure) and started up a little party in the common room.

It was good to be back at school- it was a chance to glare at Lavender (wouldn't it have been easier to go up to Hermione and say "I hate you and I'm gonna make your life suck from now on"?), smirk at Cho (the stupid crybaby had been too busy moping to know I wasn't going out with Harry anymore, and even too busy moping to pass her NEWTS, which was why she was still here in the first place), and totally ignore my most recent ex-boyfriend (not including Harry), Dean Thomas.

Everyone looked surprised I wasn't depressed, once they found out about Harry, Ron, and Hermione not being at school this year. _If only they knew where they _really _were! _I thought. But after my explosion, I didn't want to be depressed. I was _done_ with depressed, done with sad, and done with tears, too. I wanted to have fun. Then I sighed. Too bad none of my friends were here. But that was all of the pitying I let myself do. Because just as I thought that, Luna downed another (NONALCOHOLIC) drink, and you'd be surprised how like a normal person she really can be! I had an okay time.

At one point, someone shouted, "Long live Harry Potter!" and we all shouted it back. That started a round of toasts. The most eccentric one was, "To Voldemort!" After that one, there was dead silence. After almost a full minute of everyone just freezing and staring, we all just turned back to our friends and picked up right where we had left off.

At midnight, I decided to make a speech. "Hear me, hear me!" I cried, using a phrase I had heard some of the neighborhood Muggle children using. Everyone turned to look at me. "I would like to- hiccup- give a toast! So we're back Hogwarts and- hiccup- we're probably gonna die soon!" Everyone cheered. Ya gotta understand, this was some party. "But anyway, I'm having fun!" Everyone cheered in agreement again and I stepped down from the table I'd been using to speak on. I never did actually give a toast. I walked through the crowd. "Hate you, Cho," I said, nodding toward her with a hiccup. She giggled and raised her butterbeer back at me. I found Luna (to this day I have no idea how she always managed to get into the Gryffindor common room) and we did a rousing rendition of Celistina Warbeck's "A Cauldron Full of Strong, Hot Love" that Fleur would've really enjoyed. But before we had even finished, Professor McGonagall made us all go to bed. She left, however, after yelling at us for a few minutes, and as I walked up the stairs, I felt safe enough to shout, "LONG LIVE HARRY POTTER!"

"LONG LIVE HARRY POTTER!" agreed the room.


	6. Chapter 5

**Hi, everyone! I am sorry the chapters have been so short lately. Chapters 6 and 7 are much longer! Also- chapters 2 and 4 have been edited and reposted. Sorry about all the flaws, but thanks for letting me know about them! Also, I didn't post yesterday because I was out of town, and I was sick on Friday. Here's the chapter!**

I groaned as my alarm clock buzzed at me endlessly. Oh, how I hated that sound. Just about the only thing a summer away from school _couldn't _make me miss.

The alarm clock meant it was seven o'clock. Time for breakfast. School breakfasts weren't so bad, though any of my brothers could go on for hours about how much better Mom's were. But thinking about that made me think of Ron, which made me think of Harry and Hermione, which made me just plain depressed. So I got dressed in a depressed and annoyed mood. It sure didn't take much anymore.

When I got to breakfast, I automatically looked for- guess who? Yup. Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I sighed. This day sucked. Eventually, I found Neville and Luna already pigging out on eggs and sausage, Neville babbling about last night's party and Luna looking very, very far away as she literally picked, poked, and nibbled at her biscuit, getting strawberry jam and orange marmalade (I know, weird combination) all over her fingers. Nothing new at all. I chimed in through a mouthful of pancakes as Neville told Luna about my speech, mostly to defend myself. He was one to talk. Last thing I'd heard, he'd had eighteen drinks and was leading a rousing political discussion. Hmm. That one might've been interesting to hear.

Afterwards, I dragged myself to my first class of the day and the year- Muggle Studies. Man, how I wished Luna were in my house. I had never taken this class before, and Professor Alecto Carrow had been introduced as the new Muggle Studies teacher last night, and she would be teaching the class. No one really knew what had happened to Burbage, the old teacher, but this new one seemed pretty rough to teach a fluff subject like Muggle Studies.

As soon as we were seated this morning, Professor Carrow shrieked, "Muggles are filthy and idiotic things that have got less brains than purebloods have got in their left pinky toenail!"

I blinked.

This was going to be an interesting class for a blood traitor to attend.

"And all those of you who dare to say otherwise will be ... SEVERELY PUNISHED!" screeched the teacher. I nodded as she happened to look my way. I decided this teacher's idea of punishment was probably eating with a Muggle-born at lunch for a week, or something like that. I was _soo_ scared, considering that I actually _voluntarily _sat with a Muggle-born in the common room, and sometimes at lunch, all of last year. And also there was the fact that said Muggle-born was my best friend. And undebateably the smartest witch in her year. Point is, I decided I could deal with punishment from this teacher.

She babbled on and on about how filthy and annoying and peculiar Muggles were, while I hapened to know that Muggles were just like wizards, just with different ways of doing things. Ways that took _much_ longer.

Soon enough ,my dear professor had said enough stupid things to make me wonder if she'd ever even _met_ a Muggle. Honestly. "Muggles often eat their young"?!

Finally, it was time to go, and I checked my schedule. Oh joy. Next I had Dark Arts (no, not Defense Against the Dark Arts, just straight up Dark Arts), taught by the lovely _Amycus _Carrow!


	7. Chapter 6

**Slightly longer chapter, yay! And tomorrow, the longest chapter yet! Hope everyone thinks it's long enough. It actually makes me happy to get reviews that say my chapters are not long enough, because it means people want more! Thank you, guys. Enjoy the chapter! Don't forget to review!**

I sighed as I walked to my next class. I was not looking forward to yet another year of a new Dark Arts teacher, new teaching methods, and a completely new and scary course, this year. At least this was the Double Dark Arts class, which I had with the Ravenclaws. I would finally have a chance to talk to Luna. I had to hear how her first class had gone.

We waited outside the DA classroom for the other class to come out. There were terrible, high screams coming from inside. We were all too shocked to comment. We stood there like that, our eyebrows raised at each other and eyes huge, for what felt like hours, just listening to that horrifying, earsplitting noise.

When the teacher, Professor Carrow, finally opened the door, to let the tortured children out, and gave us his best attempt at a smile, which was the fiercest scowl I've ever seen.

But it wasn't half as scary as the faces of the people coming through the door he was holding. Lots of the kids who were in my DA class actually turned around, away from the door, toward the wall, so they wouldn't see their faces, and one even turned toward the hall and looked like he was seriously and honestly debating whether it would be safer to run now or at least try to sit through the class. Some of the last-class kids looked determined, and some look pained, but most of the looked openly traumatized, too distressed to try and hide their feelings.

That disgusting Amycus watched almost proudly as they all filed through the door at record speed.

"Hello class," he growled ominously as the last student left and our class began to file, much more slowly, through the door and into the dark room. "This class is no longer Defense Against the Dark Arts." We all tensed, though we already knew this. "From now on, this class is the Dark Arts. Plain and simple. Instead of learning how to _defend_ yourself against Dark spells, you will now be learning how to _perform_ them. You don't cooperate in this class? You're not in a safe, sympathetic atmosphere, got it? Let's leave it at that! And if you fool around in this class? With all those dangerous spells winging around, if you so much as pull your hand through the aisle to pass a note, you could, by some ... freak accident ... be shot with a fatal spell and die instantly." He flashed us a few of his grimy teeth.

"Now. It's time to get started. Who has ever performed the Cruciatus Curse on another living thing?"

Most people, knowing they'd be praised, not yelled at, raised their hands immediately. Sure enough, the professor was absolutely delighted when everyone lied. I, however, just didn't feel like lying, and mine was the only hand that stayed stubbornly down on its desk. Carrow glared at me, but I just did it right back at him.

"Then perhaps you could use some experience," he growled. Did this guy ever just talk?! All he did was growl or mutter quietly in this really breathy voice.

But I forgot all about his voice tone when he called, "Crucio!", his wand aimed right at me. I have never felt anything like it. It was an unbelievable amount of pain- I must be dead by now- wasn't every bone in my body broken yet?

Suddenly, the pain stopped, but my bones still ached. I could feel myself shaking, I could feel the color draining out of my face.

"Now. Who has performed the Cruciatus Curse?" he asked once more, flashing his sunny yellow teeth again. I didn't raise my hand, but Luna yanked it up, though I fought against her strength. Even this absentminded girl was put on red alert by this hissing, clearly very dangerous professor.

And the class only went downhill from there.

By the time we left, everyone had had an Unforgivable Curse used on them, and from what I could see, we all looked much worse even than the last class had. Now I had Transfiguration, I realized as I walked out the door, trying to focus my eyes and mind on the schedule in my still-shuddering hand. Finally, a class with a sane teacher ... right?


	8. Chapter 7

**I! AM! SO! SORRY! I know I haven't updated in two whole days when I usually update each day, but that's because the way I was posting chapters before isn't going to work anymore. But I think I have a new way that will! So to make it up to you all, here is the longest chapter yet.**

McGonagall was her usual self as she shepherded us into the classroom, right on time as usual, unlike _some_ evil-intending, Dark Arts-teaching, Unforgivable Curse-growling teachers I knew. However, she shut and bolted the old stone door as soon as we were all inside. She paced, leaned against her desk, and tapped her fingers across her desk impatiently as she waited for us to get our things ready for class. Usually she was much more formal and composed. When every single person had finished getting all their things ready and was staring at her warily, she finally explained.

"Things are going to be different this year," she announced grimly. It was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes. _NO DUH! _

"I know that some of you have already been to the classes taught by teachers that are new this year, and might have been counting on having at least one thing that would not change this year." She sighed. "However, I'm afraid that nothing, and I do mean nothing, will be the same. And that includes your Transfiguration classes."

Everyone around me started muttering and turning to their neighbors, completely confused. If McGonagall was not going to be normal, then she was right. Nothing was going to be normal. And I'm talkin' the whole sun-rising-in-the-west, thunder-before-lightning _nothing_. She let us talking, nodding the whole time.

"You will not have your typical Transfiguration classes this year. I will tell you something that you will supposedly have learned, in case Professors Carrow, Carrow, and Snape ask you. But, in reality, this will be a refuge from the war. We will discuss not Transfiguration, but the latest information available regarding the war and maybe even have a little Defense Against the Dark Arts class sometimes." She smiled, a rare occurrence with this particular teacher. "I feel it is necessary to have at least one class where you are not in constant danger of being killed," she added with icy sarcasm, her smile turning purposely fixed.

I do believe that was the very first time anyone has ever laughed in a Transfiguration class because of the actual teacher.

It took a while to calm down, because, what with all the high tensions and nerves running around and all, it was really hard to stop giggling once we got started. McGonagall did still have her limits, however.

"Class," she said calmly. The room silenced at once. That woman had a gift. But McGonagall? Now the nice one? That was the first funny thing I'd heard all day. Now that Professor McGonagall had us quiet, she gave us a minute to think seriously about the new plan. But there was so much to think about that I don't think anyone had gotten past thinking about breakfast this morning by the time she cleared her throat and started talking.

"I haven't heard nearly enough about what the new teachers are like. I can't give you ideas on how to protect yourself on anything if I don't know what it is that you need protecting from. So. How bad is the new Dark Arts curriculum?"

Everyone started talking at once. McGonagall raised her voice to be heard over the noise.

"Perhaps Miss Weasley would care to inform me what went on this morning in her second class?" How did she know what I had second hour?! But that's Professor McGonagall for you.

"Sure, Professor," I replied cautiously. I told her exactly what went on during DA, and she looked more horrified and appalled by the second. By the time I had actually finished the story, I think she looked worse than the people who were in the class themselves.

"That's terrible!" she cried. "Think of all the little first-years that will end up dead by the end of the week!" A murmur ran through the room. Nobody had thought of that. we had forgotten we were upperclassmen who were supposed to pretend to care about the younger kids.

Then the world turned, once again, upside-down. "Miss Weasley, where is your brother? And Mr. Potter? Miss Granger?" She looked honestly distressed and concerned as she looked at me, as if she had lost some of her most prized possessions and I was the only one left.

"They're ... not here this year ... Hermione is ... traveling with her parents, Ron is at home, in bed with spattergroit ... and Harry couldn't come to school this year- it was ... too dangerous." I tried to sound casual, but overdid it, and even I could hear the list-like quality of my words. I might as well have numbered them and ticked each one off on my fingers.

But all my classmates seemed to accept my answer. They all nodded and looked at me sympathetically. McGonagall, however, was clearly having none of it, though she was trying not to show the entire class that and blow my secret. "See me after class, Miss Weasley," she said formally. I gulped.

"Now- who would like to educate me on the topic of Muggle Studies?" she asked the class. But I didn't raise my hand or even hear the answer. I didn't her anything else that was said that day. I was too busy killing Voldemort in my mind, all on my own. Anything to get my friends back.


	9. Chapter 8

**Hey, everyone! Now, I found a way that works, for real. I tested it out today, and there were some big problems, but I fixed them fairly quickly and now I know how to do that. So no longer will I have to skip posting a chapter one day just because I can't get on a certain computer! Enjoy the chapter! **

As soon as class was over, I tried to leave, but McGonagall was too quick for me. She could even make it look like she was moving casually when she was really sprinting so that she could get to the door and block me! She was a natural-born teacher. She put her hand on my shoulder and pulled me across the room to her desk.

"Ginevra," she said sternly, once she had bolted the door again, "you are the single worst liar I have ever met. And I have met lots of liars in my time- and since I know that, I have met a lot of very bad liars in my time." I sighed. She was right, there was no use in denying that- it would just be another lie that she would detect, and then another if I denied that ... talk about a vicious circle, right? Anyway.

"Yeah ... I'm a really bad liar. I know that. But I've been sworn to secrecy- I mean, I just couldn't tell everyone where they are ... it would be dangerous for them and hard for me if they knew."

McGonagall nodded. "I can see where the problem would come in. But I think you can tell me. Those children were treasures, the three of them, and I would never do anything to hurt a Gryffindor." Call me crazy, but this was starting to sound like one of those movies where you shouted at the screen, "NO, YOU IDIOT, DON'T TRUST HER! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" And I was the idiot. But I didn't let myself think that thought.

I had to think about this- I couldn't just go spouting off my secret to anyone who asked for it! At this rate, Voldemort would know where they were by next Tuesday!

"I'm not sure, Professor. It's not that I don't trust you. It's just that, I just told my friends- with my mom's permission, of course, no worries- and even though I trust you more than I could trust them, just because you're an adult ... I just don't know if I can tell anyone else right now. I need some time to think about this." A lot.

"Besides," I added truthfully, "I really don't know just where they are. My family is being watched by the Ministry, have been ever since it was infiltrated. It was the day of my brother Bill's wedding," I heard myself saying. When had I decided to tell McGonagall my life story?! But, for some reason, I heard my idiot self keep talking.

"Everyone was having a really great time and telling us how beautiful the ceremony was during the reception. My mother was so happy, she had worked so hard on this day. Then the Patronus came from Kingsley, the one that told us the Ministry had fallen, in the middle of the reception." I swallowed. Now it was too late. I had to keep going.

"When the Ministry got to the Burrow, they didn't kill anyone, but everyone who hadn't gotten out before they arrived left as soon as they let them. And when everything was said and done, Ron, Hermione and Harry had managed to disappear. They had always been planning to skip school this year, to go chase Voldemort."

McGonagall looked surprised at this- she had clearly figured out that this was the secret I had only moments before said I couldn't tell her.

"Harry knows some secret, just him and his two favorite people," I continued bitterly. "We had to secretly send them a Patronus, saying not to worry and that they couldn't answer the message or send any of their own to us. Now we don't know why they're not answering- because they got our message, or because they're dead."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. McGonagall put her arm around me and hugged me. "I will miss the three most ... extraordinary children Hogwarts has ever seen. However, you are not such a boring one yourself, Ginny."

It took a while for her words to actually hit me. I just smiled and said thank you, at the time. She smiled back but managed to compose herself before opening the door to let me out and the next class in. Then, as I was entering the Great Hall for lunch, I realized it. The most formal teacher in all of Hogwarts history had called me by my nickname. She always refused to call her students by their nicknames! This was just too weird!

Was there even any such thing as normal anymore?


	10. Chapter 9

**I'm in a bit of a hurry, so just ... here it is!**

I walked down to lunch in a daze. I looked around for Neville and Luna again and saw them at the other end of the table. It looked like Neville was yelling at Luna, for some reason- of course, she didn't look fazed at all. Weird, those two never fought- like me, Neville knew it was like fighting with a five-year-old. Absolutely pointless.

So I was confused as I started coming towards them from the entrance of the Great Hall, but as soon as I heard what Neville was saying, it was clear. Neville was on a rant about the new teachers, and what I had taken for an absent, unfazed face on Luna was actually her most descriptive and emotional face. AKA a normal person's idea of an absent and unfazed face. Sigh.

Anyway, I was pretty quick to join in on the rant once I caught on. By the time we had established just how evil the Carrows were, lunch was over, and we had never eaten. So we grabbed plates, loaded them with food, and continued our rant the whole way up to the common room. Luna was still there, though no one would know it, and I suppose she was listening attentively. Or thinking about Crumple-Horned Snorcacks. One or the other.

It was so loud in the common room, with everyone discussing the Carrows and the other classes they'd had so far, that we could talk full voice about the Carrows and no one could begin to hear what we were saying. Unfortunately, neither could we.

"WHAT?!" I was shouting, after five minutes of completely unsuccessful attempts at normal conversation and maybe another rant.

"Nothing," muttered Neville, shaking his head.

"Neville, what was it?" asked Luna in her quiet, breathy way.

"HUH?!" we both shouted at her, cupping our hands around our ears. Quiet and breathy was not gonna work here. Once she had finally made herself heard, Neville shouted, "I SAID, WE SHOULD MAKE A BIG PLAN TO SABOTAGE THE CARROWS"

What he didn't know was that a split second before he started talking, McGonagall had walked in and the room had gone dead quiet.

"Mr. Longbottom," Professor McGonagall enunciated, tight-lipped. "You will come with me. Now. Misses Weasley and Lovegood, likewise." She began turning toward the door to leave, then she whirled back around and cried, "LOVEGOOD?! Miss Lovegood! What are you- this has never- never mind, child, just get to your next class before I call your Head of House!" Luna, not bothered at all, just replied, "Of course, Professor; I hope you have a good evening. See you in class!" And with that, the weirdest girl I have ever met left the Gryffindor common room. McGonagall, shaking her head, seemed to agree with me.

"Everyone get to class," she commanded primly, and climbed gracefully out the portrait hole, forgetting entirely about Neville's little announcement.

Luna, Neville, and I all had off this hour. We snuck out to the library, communicating with the old Dumbledore's Army coins that Neville had rigged during the summer. Now they told whole messages- though it was much more obvious they weren't real coins, Luna and I weren't about to tell him that.

When we all got to the library, there were lots of stories to be told, but turns out there wasn't much new to hear- their first days had been almost exactly like mine. We finished talking about our first classes and decided that we definitely need to take action. But how? That we didn't know. We decided to wait a while, until we'd had a few more Muggle Studies and DA classes- scope out the competition a little. Wouldn't want to be hasty and end up dead without taking either of the Carrows with us! What a waste.

By the hour's end, we still only had vague plans as we reluctantly left the library to go back to class.

Over the next few weeks, we began to realize that the Carrows were more dangerous than we ever could've guessed. It wasn't nearly enough to discourage us, though. We'd just have to be sneaky instead of just going for being outright troublemakers. Woulda been fun for a change, but what can ya do? If some all-powerful wizard with hundreds of extremely dangerous followers and a criminal longer than the American Constitution wants to take over the world, sometimes you have to humor him a little, you know?

But that's beside the point. In the end, we decided on nighttime graffiti missions. They couldn't prove who the culprits were, and it would clearly convey a message that would be hard to ignore and hard to cover up. Perfect! We got pretty proud of ourselves. It took a while to come up with slogans for the graffiti. The first mission would eventually end up being around the Great Hall, and the message would be "Dumbledore's Army: Still Recruiting". Now, all that was left to do was wait for the right time.

One night, after several of the Muggle-borns in my DA class had been tortured so badly that they were, according to a disapproving Madame Pomfrey, sure to be out for at least a week, I hunted Luna and Neville down again during dinner and told them, "It's time. We have to do something. Now. Before it's too late." They both looked hesitant to actually follow through with our plans, so I reminded them, "Remember Hermione? Our friend? Who probably couldn't be here even if she weren't," I looked around and saw that I had apparently been talking pretty loudly. "Traveling with her parents," I finished lamely.

Neville nodded. Hermione used to help him sometimes, and without her he had struggled at the beginning of the year, though by now he had stepped it up and filled the place she had left behind as the smartest wizard in the year. Luna nodded, too- Hermione was one of the few people who tolerated her.

"Okay, so, are you with me?!" I asked them, making the answer obvious with my growling tone.

"Uh-sure- for Hermione," replied Neville weakly.

"Yes, of course. Hermione is one of my only friends," announced Luna honestly and embarrassingly. Right," I replied awkwardly. "Sure. So, for Hermione?" I asked. "For Hermione," they answered together. We ate as fast as possible and ran up to the common room to set the date for our first mission. Dumbledore's Army would rise again.


	11. Chapter 10

**Hi, everyone! Yes, it is the big day! Graffiti time! Also, DON'T FORGET- check my profile for a poll I really need you to answer and recommendations for some good fanfictions I absolutely love. **

That night, at midnight, the three of us, who were all that now remained of Dumbledore's Army, snuck into the corridor outside the Great Hall. It was going to be hard, because teachers, ghosts, and prefects were all constantly on patrol during lights-out hours.

Neville and I met in the common room at midnight. We nodded at each other and were just leaving when we realized someone was casually following us. We jumped about a mile and turned around. When we saw who it was, we jumped about another mile. There was Luna. It wasn't surprising that she had made it in here. What had made us jump was her appearance. There she was, all dressed in black and with war paint on her cheeks. Wow.

So we left the common room (after glaring at Luna a little for good measure). We reached … two feet outside the door without incident. But right after that, there was incident, all right. Big, big incident.

McGonagall came pacing slowly up the hallway, on patrol. She looked half-asleep. "What are you doing, children?" she asked sharply, somehow making it an order. How was someone her age even able to stay awake at this hour?!

"Just doing a graffiti mission against the Carrows," replied Luna quickly and honestly.

I swear there was smoke coming out of my ears.

But McGonagall smiled again! That made, like, two or three times today. How creepy!

"Very well, carry on," she replied. My mouth literally dropped open. So did Neville's. Only Luna didn't seem surprised that she had been rewarded so well for her honesty. Guess she has some sort of karma thing going for her.

"Uh, thanks," I replied, running towards the stairs. But I was carrying the sack of spray paint cans, and I couldn't really run, unless we wanted to wake Dumbledore in his grave. Okay, now that was just gross. You didn't need that mental picture. Sorry.

We crept down the hallway, acting like spies and being overly dramatic about peeking around the corners. I could barely keep from cracking up every five seconds. We didn't meet anyone else until the stairs. Peeves the Poltergeist was cackling and giggling, playing the same old trick of unscrewing the chandelier.

When he saw us going ever so quietly down the stairs beneath him, he shrieked with glee. "OO, LITTLE CHILDREN, WHAT GAME IS THIS YOU ARE PLAYING?! EH? TRYING TO GET PAST PEEVES? NEVER, LITTLE ONES! OH, DEAR ALECCCCCCCTRO!" Instantly, I heard footsteps.

"RUN!" yelled Neville. And we did. We ran and ran and ran and ran for who-knows-how-long until we had no idea where we were and had nothing even slightly resembling time to figure it out. We ran into the kitchens, out into the Quidditch fields, near the forest, back inside, all around, once all the way into the Hufflepuff dormitories. We may even have been in a boys' bathroom at one point.

When we snuck back in a side door of the castle (with the help of a house-elf, those adorable, underpaid things) and listened for a full twenty minutes to see if anyone was still chasing us.

"I don't hear a thing," announced Luna about three minutes after we started waiting.

Neville was in a sour mood now. He snapped back when Luna annoyed him. "We just got here. They could be planning an ambush as soon as we move an inch, or-or they might be about to charge out right now-" he looked around the entire area at this part- "or they might just be listening to everything we say so that they can find out what we're gonna do in the first place. And then they'll ambush later."

"Sure!" I replied tartly. "And I'm a flying, prancing, pretty little unicorn, but that's all in my imagination, too!"

Neville grumbled something I couldn't (and didn't want to) hear. And so went the waiting and the slow walking back to the Great Hall when we finally gave up on waiting, and basically the entire rest of the night. Snap after snap after snap.

In fact, that slow walk back up to the Great Hall was so slow that it took an entire hour to get from the kitchens to the entrance hall. When we had finally reached the doors to the Great Hall, it was time to get to work.

Carefully, determinedly, and deliberately, we wrote in huge, pink spray-paint letters.

On one side of the doors, we wrote "Dumbledore's Army". On the other, we wrote "Still Recruiting". We high-fived, silently mouthing, "YEAH!" and "WE DID IT!" and "Did you know that Crumple-Horned Snorkacks are the most common magical animal in the world, but no one believes they exist?" That one was Luna. No comment.

After that, Luna snuck behind a portrait to a hidden staircase that took her directly to Ravenclaw Tower, and Neville came with me on a weird, complicated path to Gryffindor Tower, to avoid Peeves. We couldn't wait to see how the Carrows reacted.


	12. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone! The Carrows will not be finding out about the graffiti in this chapter. MORE SUSPENSE! Teehee. Here it is, anyway.**

It was the moment of truth. Breakfast would start in fifteen minutes- for students and teachers. The only way to get there was by walking right past the unmissable giant pink graffiti sign and through the big double doors.

Luna and I met in a corner of the common room (by now, all us Gryffindors had basically forgotten she hadn't been placed in this house) and waited for Neville to come out of the boys' dorms. We made nervous and jittery small talk, jumping a the slightest sound. Well, that was what I did. Luna looked, as usual, perfectly at ease and entirely unfazable.

When Neville finally came out of the dormitories, whistling and taking his time, Luna and I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him aside.

"WHAT?!" he yelled, annoyed. "I hardly got any sleep last night because I was up all night with you two and now first thing when I get up, who do I see but you two?"  
Now, Neville is a very loud person, and some parts of that sentence sounded really wrong.

"No, no, that ... wasn't what it sounded like," I assured everyone as they stared and made repulsed faces. At my claim, everyone just rolled their eyes and muttered "sure" to their neighbors, then got back to what they were doing. I turned bright red, but Neville and Luna both burst out laughing.

Neville was hardly ever in a bad mood, and when he was you could tell it was hard for him to stay that way. Laughing at me put him in a good mood and for the sake of finally having a good, stress-free time, I let it go.

We were all on an adrenaline rush as we ran down the staircase, giggling (yes, that's including Neville- I know, Neville giggling, another unwanted mental picture). We got to the Great Hall just as breakfast started and the early risers trudged in, already abuzz with chatter about the sign. Neville, Luna, and I pretended to be shocked and talked innocently about the sign all the way in.  
"Who would do that? They're gonna be in such big trouble with the Carrows!" I exclaimed, having trouble keeping from grinning.

"I know," replied Neville. "They must be really brave. Hey, Lavender! How about that sign?"

"I don't know what that's about," replied Lavender. Then she leaned towards where we were taking our seats and added, "But if anyone was thinking of restarting the Army, I sure know I would be interested." She giggled, a sound I had heard all too much. It had almost been a refreshing experience when she had been going out with Ron, which, er, kept her mouth busy.

"Right," replied Neville, grinning. Maybe not everyone found her giggle annoying... The minutes ticked by in slow-mo as we waited for everyone to come down to breakfast. All around me I could hear, "Did you see -?" and "I can't believe it!" and "Hahaha, this should be good!" The Great Hall may have been nearly empty, but it definitely couldn't be called nearly silent.

Gradually, more people started to come down. Everyone wanted to know who had done this, and all three of the people who had, including me, joined wholeheartedly in the speculation.

"I think it was a Slytherin. How much would they love to get us in trouble?" suggested Parvati Patil.

"She's right," agreed Hannah Abbott. "Draco Malfoy is this huge celebrity in the school ever since Harry left. I would not be at all surprised if he were behind this."

"Sure, that makes sense," Neville told her, smiling. I never knew my old friend was such the ladies' man! Go Neville!

"But guys," Dean interrupted, "what if it was one of the old Dumbledore's Army guys, who thought it was worth getting in trouble? That sounds just like something Harry would suggest." Then he frowned. "But Harry bailed on us," he moped.

I glared at him.

"No, I still say he's doing something important. Harry wasn't the type who would sit in Charms class at a time like this!" some random kid who I didn't know reminded the table. If I didn't know him, neither did Harry. This kid had no idea what he was talking about, but he was definitely on the verge of becoming my new favorite person.

"Guys. I think it's time to get serious. If someone from Dumbledore's Army is trying to get a group together, I say we help 'em out!" he continued.

"YEAH!" cheered the table, me included. I was so excited. These kids were thinking, they were interested, they had just needed a push to be brave enough to talk about the Carrows. This was just what we had wanted, and just what all these people had needed. I couldn't stop smiling as we continued the conversation.

The conversations became more and deep, less and less joking. I never knew that any force of nature could make such a large group of teenagers be serious for so long. But finally, the fact that there were reasons to be serious had gotten through all of their heads. It's not that we wanted to depress all these kids, we just wanted to give them a serious reality check. I mean, most of them thought more about dyeing their hair than dying. Honestly.


	13. Chapter 12

**Longest and best chapter yet!! (And FYI the ending is supposed to be touching, not funny ... so don't laugh TOO hard, okay?!) I'll leave you to it!**

By eight, most people were up and about, coming down to breakfast, motivated to get up by the stories that the earlybirds who'd already had breakfast were spreading around the common room.

Neville, Luna, and I planned to stay at the Gryffindor table, promoting conversation and finding out what everyone thought of the little prank, until the last person left the hall- right about when everyone was kicked out so the lunch food could be set up, basically. What I heard when I first went down was only the start of a great breakfast. It was so great to see everyone actually thinking about something besides themselves and their boyfriends or girlfriends.

There were lots of new people talking about joining the DA.

"Be right back," I told someone who came up to me and absolutely begged to be admitted. I beckoned to Neville and Luna.

"Guys," I hissed when we were in the entrance hall, "what I didn't count on were a million people asking me to join the DA! They took the message literally, not as a sign that the DA was still alive. So, do we want new people or not"

"Of course we do!" replied Neville. "All the easier to pull complicated pranks off."

"The more the merrier," agreed Luna dreamily. "Okay ..." I replied hesitantly. I went back to the guy and told him to meet us in the common room at ten tomorrow night.

And Gryffindors weren't the only ones interested by the message. I had Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and even a couple Slytherins (on dares, obviously) ask me to join.

Whenever anyone asked me, I said, "What?! That wasn't me!" Then I beckoned them closer. "Meet us in the common room at ten tomorrow night," I would whisper to them then.

Soon enough, even the lazy Carrows couldn't sleep anymore, it had gotten so bright outside. They were bound to come in any minute. Everyone in the entire Hall was tense. Since there was no obvious culprit here, Amycus was likely to punish every single one of the students at Hogwarts.

Snape walked in soon enough.

He wasn't a Carrow, and no longer "did" discipline, which was the Carrows' job. He just shook his head when he reached the staff table.

Then he announced angrily, "You children are absolutely vile. I'll leave you to the mercy of Professor Carrow, and you're actually lucky for that."

"Like we care," I scoffed quietly as everyone started talking again.

"Uh- I do," replied Neville, pale. "Oh, come on, Neville," I replied, whining now. "You didn't honestly just not realize they were gonna punish us! Really! I thought you were smart!"

"I know," snapped Neville. "I'm no Hermione, but I'm not that stupid. Come on. I realized they were gonna punish us ... but it seemed so unreal last night, like nothing could hurt us while we were doing that."

Great. Neville had to open his big, fat, _loud_ mouth again.

"Aw, come on, people," I groaned as they all turned to stare. "Real mature, you know he doesn't mean it like that, just go back to eating your breakfast."

Neville cracked up and wasn't a bit nervous anymore. Luna just watched us. Suddenly, a deep and powerful scream shot through the air. It cursed, condemned, and rebuked at its loud and piercing volume. Amycus Carrow ran into the Hall, his sister behind him, trying to cover up how afraid she was.

"YOU ARE THE WORST CHILDREN EVER!" yelled Amycus, reaching the staff table. And that is my very own extremely, extremely, ex_trem_ely edited version of what he said. But then he called out something just as terrible as the real version, but it needs no editing.

"AVADA KADAVRA!" he called. "AVADA KADAVRA, AVADA KADAVRA, AVADA KADAVRA!"

And the screams of panicked children filled the room completely. Everyone tried to get out of the Hall, sobbing, crying, and trying to choke out their friends' and relatives' names as they looked for them through their tears. Most of these kids had never even heard an Unforgivable Curse cast at someone until this year. To have one cast at them was the end of their innocent lives, whether it hit them or not.

I, of course, had grown up in no fantasy world and been told no tales. I did not scream and cry. I ducked under the table and tried to pull others down with me, but they just got even more frightened, crying harder and yelling louder.

I decided to go for a different approach. I ran for it, pulling anyone I could with me. Since they could see me this time, and knew what side I was on, they allowed me to pull them out of the Great Hall, though most of them didn't stop crying. The first person I pulled out was a Gryffindor first-year who was small enough to be drinking out of a bottle. She was sobbing and crying and yelling for her brother.

"It's okay, sweetie," I cooed, sitting on the first step and rocking with her. "It's okay, you're safe now. What's your brother's name?"

"J-J-James," she stuttered, then began to sob again. What a weird coincidence. James Potter. James what's-his-name. Both went to Hogwarts. Okay, so it isn't that big of a coincidence. Whatever. Point is, I went to find this James kid. I had been ducking under and over the table for about ten minutes when I realized James was the new kid who had been defending Harry.

"JAMES! JAMES!" I called. I had been in sight of him this whole ten minutes, not knowing he was just who I was looking for.

"YEAH?!" he shouted back, over the noise of cries, shrieks, and the curses that were still being fired.

"YOUR SISTER'S LOOKING FOR YOU!" I told him.

"WHICH ONE?!" he replied, rolling his eyes. "DOESN'T MATTER ANYWAY, I'LL BE OUT IN A MINUTE! DON'T LET HER GO ANYWHERE!" he added.

I ran back out and rocked with the kid some more until he came back out. Then I went back in and senselessly began pulling more people out of the Hall. Finally, an hour later, it had settled down. No one was dead, but every single person needed the hospital wing, so medicines were being mass-distributed by all the teachers, classes cancelled for the day and everyone ordered not get out of their beds. It was kind of nice, really. But I had something I wanted to do, even if it was pointless.

"Dear Harry," I wrote. "Today, the Carrows almost killed everyone here at school. I helped get some of the kids out of the Hall, where they were shooting Killing Curses at the general public. I helped this one guy get his sister out of the fire. I owed him, because he was defending you when everyone was saying you bailed on us.

"I can't say anything about you, because I am such a bad liar, and if I commented on anything having to do with you, they would all be watching me and listening really carefully, because they consider me an expert on all things Harry Potter. They'd figure out this whole thing is an act.

"But at the moment, no one knows that I've been lying to them about where you guys are. I never talk about you, and they don't expect me to.

"It's hard to be here without you. I wish I could be with you guys. It's very empty at Hogwarts without you all. Tell Hermione I said hi and tell Ron not to be too obvious. You know what I mean. Hope you're doing a good job, whatever it is you're doing. I wish you could tell me what it is, but I understand why you can't. I love you, and I will wait for you.

"XOXO, Ginny." I sighed. "P.S.," I added. "I wish I could actually send this."


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 ... here it is! I haven't gotten a review in ages. That was a hint. But I know most of you can't take a hint. So ... REVIEW!**

Now that our first mission was over with, it was time to deal with the consequences. Oh, I'm not talking about the Carrows. I can handle them any day. I'm talking about Luna, Neville, and I leading the DA. No one ever paid attention when I did public speaking, and the whole idea of leading something so huge was really daunting.

We prepared all week. We decided that the graffiti had worked. We would do it again, but eventually we would need new ideas, fresh things so that everyone didn't lose interest. We decided that there would be missions for everyone, and then there would be missions that it would be easier to carry out by just having the three leaders do them. And most of all, we decided that we didn't want to tell them what we had decided. The other two were scared of crowds.

On Tuesday night, we actually rehearsed.

"Hello, I'm Neville Longbottom, and with my two friends, Ginny and Luna, I will be heading the DA this year," Neville informed us sometime after one o'clock in the morning.

"I'm Ginny Weasley," I clarified.

"And I'm Luna Lovegood," added Luna. "We'll be doing a lot of pranks like the one you saw at breakfast the other day," I announced to the imaginary audience. "Eventually, we'll need to come up with some new ideas so that everyone doesn't just stop caring, but the graffiti worked great the first time, considering you're all here, so we think we've found a good thing and that we should run with it."

"We'll have weekly meetings to talk openly about the war, our jobs, and, eventually, new ideas," Luna added. "Any questions?" we all asked together.

We had it all down. It should go off without a hitch.

But since when did things work like they "should"? I mean, Voldemort should probably have been dead years ago. But we all know how well that worked out. When it came to be Wednesday at ten, the common room filled up with hushed and wide-awake teenagers. A combination I thought I would never see.

"Okay," I said at ten-thirty to Neville and Luna. "Let's get started."

We stood up on a table and looked out over the common room. There were tons of people here! Neville started with his part, and we went on until the end, no one forgetting a line. When we were done, they all clapped, which was very unexpected. Had it all that obviously been a performance?!

"We're not here to show off our amazing people skills," I announced to the crowd. They all laughed. "We're here to do something about the war. Not just talk about it with McGonagall, not just learn how to be on the wrong side of it with the Carrows, but to actually do something about it. The Carrows are a big part of it, and we have to take them down. Does everyone still want to be here?" Everyone nodded. That was a relief.

"Good!" I cried. "Thanks for coming today. This was just an introduction, remember, and our first meeting won't be until next Wednesday, same time, same place. So, now, do any of you have questions?"

I think every hand was raised.

"Um ... yes?" I called to someone I didn't recognize and waited for them to ask their question.

"Uh, why did you guys say that last part together?" they asked. I groaned inwardly. Was it going to be these kinds of questions?! "Uh, to be catchy," I replied. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes. Everyone's hands went back up as soon as I finished answering the question. "Uh, yeah?" I asked a girl who was jumping up and down.

"Didn't you go out with Harry Potter?" she asked, her eyes wide and expression admiring. I was flattered. "Yes, I did. Might come in handy if you need to know, um ... no, I lied. I don't think that will come in handy at all- not for you guys, at least." They all laughed again. Maybe I wasn't such a bad public speaker after all.

Next, I called on a calm, studious-looking Hufflepuff with his hand high in the air and his spectacles shoved up against his eyes. "Yes?" I asked warily.

"This isn't the Charms Club?" he asked seriously.

"Uh, noo," I replied slowly. "I don't think so." He looked disappointed and got up to leave. "But any serious questions, guys?" I asked. No one's hand went down. "Ones that have to do with the DA?" I added. No one's hand stayed up. There was a general roar of laughter at this- just about anything is hilarious at eleven at night.

Despite the fact that there were no questions, we didn't get out of the common room until midnight, because the masses of people had to be shepherded out, all wanting to stay and socialize. It took a whole hour to make them all leave.

I was so tired after that. Being the president of anything was hard work. Being the president of anything having to do with a fight the most powerful wizard of all time and the closest thing to a living miracle the world had ever known was even harder.

Who woulda guessed?


	15. Chapter 14

**It's bizzare ... and it's late ... but I am, sorry, just plain too tired and too busy to care. It may be bizzare, and it may be late, but it's Chapter 14. So read.**

Nothing really happened for the rest of the week. The days went by in a horror-movie way that we soon got used to and actually eventually found dull.

At least there was one thing that shook us all up every once and a while- Neville. He occasionally enjoyed getting a smart mouth with the Carrows and scaring us all half to death, making us think they were about to kill him. He was changing like mad. It was creepy. One minute, he's this weird, shy, half-Squib nerd. Next, he's this 6' 2" leader with amazing magical skills. He even looks better, for some reason.

But don't get me wrong, the only guy for me is still, sadly, the one that's out fighting Voldemort, which basically turns out to be like committing suicide for most people. And the smartest one of the entire '97 seventh year would be Hermione. And Neville would never match my brother's 6' 6". Their places as the hero, the know-it-all, and ... the tall sidekick, maybe? or whatever ... will be waiting for them when they get back.

The point is, Neville was taking Harry's place as the role model and celebrity of the school for the moment. It was almost funny, actually. Who would've thought that Neville would be the one who took over? But then I got annoyed with his new role, and realized I didn't want anyone taking Harry's place in any way, shape, or form.

That was one thing I could be sure of. At first I hadn't known whether I should see other people or not, but then Harry came over for the summer. And I realized, not only would he not want me to, but I wouldn't want to either. Most girls don't meet their future husbands at the age of ten, but I was pretty sure I had.

I decided then that I didn't want anyone taking Harry's place this year- not only as my boyfriend, but just as what he had been to the rest of the school. That wasn't fair to Harry, and, besides, if I had to suffer from Harry being gone, then so did everyone else. Now, I know that sounds selfish, but ... well, it is.

I was made Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I accepted- finally, something I could do right. And I did. I let Neville onto the team as a Keeper, and to play it safe, I let Lavender take Harry's role of Seeker. At least if someone had to take his place in Quidditch, it would be useful to me, so that I could keep an eye on her. At least there was something I could do for Hermione and Ron. Even if it wasn't enough to make them and Harry come back to me ...

Lavender was a surprisingly good Seeker. She definitely had the thin build thing going for her. She had gotten even thinner from moping so much when Ron broke up with her. Honestly. She was like Cho. You'd've thought Ron'd died. And that was not something I wanted to think. I came to passionately dread Quidditch practices and games.

So the days passed. Every Friday night, the newly extended Dumbledore's Army would do one sign of graffiti per week. The Carrows stopped freaking out on Saturday mornings- they just were, if possible, even meaner on a daily basis. We thought about how it was actually mean to the other kids to do this, and make the Carrows angry. But none of them seemed to mind. The kids of Hogwarts had real spirit. They would rather see Voldemort ridiculed and taunted than not have the Cruciatus Curse cast on them every couple of minutes. It was really weird and nice to see how happy they actually were this way. Everyone was on my side.

One of the things they did was definitely pull up the punishment for kids who had detention. They not only had to go and sit there and do lines in the boring classrooms and be hit and ridiculed by the Carrows, but now they had kids practicing the Cruciatus Curse on anyone who was in detention.But eventually, the kids stopped caring so much and even the Carrows slacked off on the extra punishment. No one really minded or even paid attention to the graffiti anymore.

"Look," Neville said one week at the meeting. "I say, we can see the people getting bored. So, let's wrap it up."

Everyone sounded disappointed. Giving up? Just like that? I grinned. I knew better.

"AND GO OUT WITH A BIG BANG!" Neville shouted with joy.

"YEAH!" everyone cheered.

"That's right, people! There's your spirit!" I called. "Next Wednesday," continued Neville, "will be the big day. It's fall break on Thursday-" Fall break? Seemed like Easter holidays should be coming around! "and everyone will be hanging around, with classes ending early on Wednesday and having off until next Monday. On Wednesday night, instead of doing what we usually do, which is to rotate who gets to do the graffiti by week, we will all be getting to work. We're only just finished the second floor. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, will need to pitch in to do this."

I nodded. "He's right, guys. Twenty-five signs? In one night? I know, it sounds impossible. But we have ... how many people? About the same number. It would be a lot easier if everyone who came to that first introductory meeting actually was serious about joining the Army. But you know what? Now we know we can really count on anyone who stayed! We are all committed, and I would like to see the day when this number of determined people with this level of devotion can't spray paint a single castle in one night. And there's yet another twist.

"We will be giving everyone something to be thankful for. We will be providing them with a lovely fireworks display in the Great Hall. The wonderous sight of disgruntled Carrows when they find the absolutely fantastic and most up-to-date Dung bombs ... in their sleeping quarters. Yes, yes, I know. Please hold your applause until we unveil the big surprise.

"WE WILL BE STEALING THE SWORD OF GRYFFINDOR FROM RIGHT ... UNDER ... OUR ... DEAR ... HEADMASTER'S ... GREASY ... STINKING ... NOSE!" I yelled, punching the air with every word. Clearly, I was very excited about this.

Everyone roared. It was a darn good thing that the Carrows slept downstairs and McGonagall pretended not to notice when our common room got loud anymore.

Everyone was just as excited as I was. I went on to explain.

"OKAY, EVERYONE!" I shouted over the noise. "I need to explain. You guys will all be out there, doin' your graffiti thang, getting all pumped up for the big reveal! And we, Luna, Neville, and I, will be stealing the sword as soon as dear Snape leaves his office for the night. Thank you, everyone, for coming, have a good night, and I WILL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK FOR DETAILS!"

Everyone poured out of the common room or towards the dormitories. The noise in my dorm didn't die down until after midnight. Everyone was excited about the big night.

It was time for the graffiti project to get finished. And it was going to go out with the biggest bang Hogwarts had ever seen.


	16. Chapter 15

**I know, it's late. But who isn't busy at Christmastime? So here's a nice long chapter to make up for it. And I'm happy to say that as far as I know, there will be an update tomorrow. Maybe not Wednesday. But tomorrow.**

Sure, everyone was talking about the big night, and everyone was excited. Problem is, excited kids are loud. And adults have an extra sense for hearing loud kids. So it was a bit hard keeping the whole thing a secret. "I can't WAIT!" squealed one girl to her friend one day, as we waited to be let into Dark Arts.

"I know!" squeaked her friend. "It is going to be so FUN! Terrorizing the teachers and making the whole SCHOOL happy!"

"Guys! Shut. Up. Now. We are outside of Dark Arts, and if the Carrows find out, I will personally hurt you," I growled. "Jeez," one girl whispered to her friend. "That girl leads the Army, doesn't she? She's harsh. She never seemed like that before."

You wanna know why I could hear her whispering? Because she was loud. I was right to yell at her. Hmmph.

But, as far as we could tell, the teachers didn't get wind of the plan. We made sure that every single class had someone whose job it was to hush up the loud kids. Even if there was a class that had no one from the Army, there could still be friends of the Army kids, who had heard about it and wanted to tell their friends, etc. etc. etc. So probably more than half the work having to do with the big night was done way beforehand.

Not for me, Neville, and Luna, though. We were so busy planning, time was against us. I swear! I went to bed on Thursday (one week until the big reveal), and when I woke up, it was Tuesday.

We had to divide everyone into groups, which is very tricky, because you'd think that teenagers could get over not being with their friends for about an hour. You would think. But you would be wrong.

We also had to make our own plans. That was the trickiest part of the entire deal. Dungbombs in the Carrows' offices- easy. Some Slytherin hairs, some Polyjuice potion, and some sweet-talking would get that job done easy. Those teachers were new, and it was easier to trick them than they wanted to believe.

But tricking Snape? He'd seen every trick in the book, and had been a Potions master for years upon years. I figured that we were already in enough danger- using any sort of potion while in Snape's office would be like hanging a sign that read "THIEF" around my neck. One with flashing red lights. That played music. And had a giant arrow above it. And- no, you get the picture.

So, the point is, we couldn't use Polyjuice Potion. We'd just have to do it the old-fashioned way (A.K.A. the Muggle way). We would just have to wait until Snape had left and hope for the best.

The planning mostly consisted of arguing that point. We debated if there was any sort of way to do this without putting our fate so fully in the hands of luck.

"He probably has all sorts of things that sense magic around his office," Neville pointed out one day. "Not only will we be detected because he knows his potions, but if we just sneak in and take the sword after he leaves, that's one more thing we don't have to figure out how to deal with."

"But it's so easy to tell who we are that way," replied Luna obviously. "Yeah, sure," agreed Neville. "It's kind of hard to argue with basic logic. But I can show you my basic logic: For Snape, it's just as easy to tell who we are when we've had Polyjuice Potion as it is when we haven't. If he catches us in his office but can't tell by our subconscious mannerisms and sayings who we are, then he'll just keep us until our hour's worth of potion has worn off. It's really simple. Polyjuice Potion isn't designed to disguise who are you are once the person figures out you've taken it. It's not foolproof, Luna."

"Okay, here's the truth no one's admitting to: _NOTHING'S_ FOOLPROOF!" I yelled. "There is no way that we can sneak into Severus Snape's office, steal the sword of Gryffindor, hide it without him noticing, and be absolutely one hundred percent sure that we won't get caught. No. Way. So just pick one of the ways, because neither of them is perfect, and the truth is, neither are any of the ones we haven't even thought of!" I was so fed up with the arguing. I got dramatic when I was angry.

And, boy, was I angry. I was angry that our plan could be destroyed and our lives come to an abrupt end with a flick of a single man's wand. I was angry we weren't worth more than that. I was confused- confused why Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't care enough about me to invite me to come along on their little mission, confused about why they would leave me like this. But more than any of that, I was angry that our plan lay so entirely in the hands of hope.

In a time where the most terrible wizard in history was at the height of his power, when people were dying by the hundreds every day, and when our entire world was in the gravest of dangers, and when the odds were so against the general public that there was no hope to be found, we were relying on that very thing- hope.

It is a funny thing, to take something that wasn't there to begin with. It is exhilarating to hope after such a long period of having no reason to, nothing to hope for- and even more exhilarating to hope when you really don't have any hope even now. You have to have faith in what you believe in, and that can conquer all the bad. It makes you forget everything else, and you just hold on so hard to that hope that it kills you when someone loosens your grip. Even if you are hoping for something as minor as making it through the night, that hope becomes your life.

And to have all that hope come to nothing- you can't even imagine.

**Like the dramatic ending? Teehee. Check back tomorrow!! Don't forget!**


	17. Chapter 16

**This is an extended and slightly altered version of Chapter 16. Mwahahahaha! MWAHAHAHAHA! The time has come! Okay, I'm done now. Read.**

But I'm getting ahead of myself, as usual.

On Tuesday, we had a meeting to divide everyone into groups and all that. It didn't matter much. What really mattered was pulling off the sword trick. "Operation Fry from Grease" was what we called it. Grease- Snape. No more explanation than that really needed here. And fry- sword. Stealing the good thing … from the gross thing … get it? Sword from Snape? Good from gross? Now you get it.

On Wednesday, it was really hard to concentrate in class. Luckily, I had Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms. No Carrows today. Every hour stretched into three before finally ending- right on time, as it turns out.

Like I said, time was playing some weird, evil tricks on us.

On Wednesday night, we didn't talk about the big night at all at dinner. We couldn't. There were too many people in Gryffindor who weren't really Gryffindor enough to keep our secret and risk getting blamed. It was pretty hard to keep quiet, since we were so excited, nervous … and hopeful.

But that wasn't the hardest part. The hardest part was staying awake until Snape had left his office. We had to go up to the dorms and pretend everything was normal, so we went upstairs around ten, got in pajamas, and pretended to go to sleep.

Oh. My. God. You have no idea how much you need sleep after so much … _thinking_. Teenage minds aren't armed for this kind of vigorous mind activity!!

So I laid in my bed trying to do anything but fall asleep. My eyelids were so heavy. They started falling down on their own. I had some sort of spastic eyelid disorder or something. Because I couldn't be tired right now. I couldn't. I yawn couldn't ….

I woke up an hour later with Luna tapping lightly on my shoulder.

"Luna!" I hissed. "Go away! It is Thanksgiving … it is still dark out … and I … want … to … sleep!"

"Ginny," she whined. "It's not even Thanksgiving yet! You can sleep after we steal the sword! It's time to go! Now!"

"OH," I realized loudly. Luna put a hand over my mouth as all the girls in our dormitory stirred. "We're safer this way," she informed me conversationally as taped my mouth shut and walked me down the stairs.

"Right," I tried to mutter through the tape. What came out was closer to "Mmph".

Neville was waiting for us. He nodded and started to turn when he saw us, then turned around with a puzzled (and, to my annoyance, amused) look, and pointed to my mouth, raising his eyebrows at Luna.

"Bit of a chatterbox tonight," Luna whispered casually. Neville guffawed silently- something I never knew was possible, but, yup, there he was, guffawing … silently.

"Are you finished yet?" I tried again to speak through my gag. Big mistake. What came out was entirely unintelligible and caused us to have to wait for another full five minutes before Neville could contain himself and move on. And he still couldn't help shooting a grin at me as he turned around, and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

I tried to kick him, but Luna wouldn't let me.

So we left the common room and went out the potrait hole of the snoring Fat Lady. Getting past her to get back in might give us some trouble. McGonagall might pretend not to notice when we were doing Dumbledore's Army operations, but the Fat Lady was strict as anything about curfew- and the biggest old gossip you've ever heard, too!

Getting into Snape's office wasn't hard. Well, it wasn't physically hard, but … well, the password was, "The Dark Lord". Creative, right? We didn't really want to say it, but we did anyway.

But anyway. We snuck into Snape's office and tiptoed to the top. We walked into the big, circular room, trying not to look around and see Snape's taste in decoration. We had a mission that required our eyes still being intact and not harmed by seeing anything as painful as that.

Snape was big on security. He'd hidden the sword pretty well. It was hard to find. But eventually, after what seemed like ages in the echoing, forbidden office, we finally found it.

"WAIT!" I hissed as Neville reached up to grab the sword.

"WHAT?!" he whisper-yelled. I glared at him. "That could be absolutely covered in booby traps, 'k? Look around a little! Be smart!" I commanded quietly. Grumbling the entire time, Neville searched the thing all over. He didn't find any red lasers or anything, which he told me, and to which I replied that "they didn't come on until _after _you stole the thing, dumbo!", in the nicest tone I could muster in the current situation. I made him search it three more times before I would let him take the sword out of the case.

So we grabbed the sword. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Except that five seconds later, Snape charged in.

"Hello, children," he sneered.

"Hi," I replied miserably, after shooting Neville a halfhearted triumphant look. Snape grinned. "Oh, yes," he said, "you have found my prized possession. Very nice, hmm?"

"Wait a minute," I requested. "How did you even find us? We totally looked for booby traps all over that thing." Snape smiled, practically dripping grease. "That's the beauty of the whole thing, my dear, dear children. I didn't. You were just such idiots that you happened to plan your little adventure on the night that I had patrol duty. I was just happening by to pick up a few things, and I saw that you'd apparently decided to pay me ... and my sword ... a little visit."

"My sword and I," I replied defiantly. Neville had his head down, looking at the floor, but I heard him chuckle. Snape ignored me.

"Yes, as I was saying, this is very dear to me, and you," he poked the blade up near Neville's chin, "will have to pay a very dear price for trying to take it from me. Only fair. And we could expect no less than fair treatment for such good friends of the school celebrity Mr. Potter, could we? Although I suppose he is no longer the school celebrity, as he did not even bother to show up this year … too ashamed, I'm sure … so unsuccessful at defeating the Dark Lord … the death of one man enough to keep him away from all who he …" he looked at me significantly, "pretended to love …"

But he never did finish his thoughts that night. Because it was then that I punched Severus Snape.

**You like? Then tell me so and REVIEW! PLEASE! Thank you! Updating tomorrow (hopefully). I didn't on Tuesday because I was sick, and then on Wednesday, I was having technical issues. Now, get to the reviewing!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hi, everyone! Two update days in a row! How long has it been since that happened?**

Yes, that was the night I punched Severus Snape. sighs happily Good times, good times. When I punched him, he cursed a while, then glared at me and went on.

After that, Snape dealt out our punishment- he wanted to do it, since, this time, it was personal. But I was ashamed for him. His punishment was weak.

"You will be spending the night in the Forbidden Forest, helping out any wounded animals you may find while in there with that bumbling idiot, Hagrid."

I mentally tsk-tsked at him. I was disappointed. He could have done so much better. I thought he was smarter than to send us on a little expedition with Hagrid! Aw, this would be fun. Maybe I'd even take some pictures. How exciting!

I actually had to put some effort into looking depressed as I replied, "Yes, Professor. We'll go back to bed."

I couldn't actually even believe what had just happened. I had thought all that hope had been dashed, but really it hadn't been. I had survived all right. In fact, having had me and the two other suspected troublemakers in the headmaster's office at the same time that all the new graffiti had to have been being put up might even throw the Discipline Three off a little. (Snape had given up trying to pretend he wasn't helping the Carrows punish the kids who were bad.)

We trooped back up to our rooms, smiling at each other the whole time, overwhelmingly relieved. We passed many a kid with a spray can, and by the looks of the walls, they had all decided to forget the five-sign-a-floor thing- they'd gone all out and entirely painted the walls, with only the occasional sign! But that didn't mean that part of the wall wasn't spray painted, the sign was just in a different color. Like I said, they went all out.

I passed Lavender- out went my tongue- Dean- the chatter started up with Neville- and even McGonagall- looked straight ahead and pretended not to notice, and she was courteous enough to do the same. But we came to a halt at the Fat Lady. She was asleep, and she was always cranky if you woke her up- but forget if it was after hours, at a time that she was actually supposed to be sleeping. She'd be downright rude, and of course collect as much information as possible about where you'd been- for whatever secret files she had filled with gossip material.

Plus we also had to stop to convince Luna to go back to her own House for the night. We were in the middle of doing that when the Fat Lady woke up.

"Ahh, having a little late-night argument, hmm?" she asked angrily. "Thought you should wake me up to join the party? But no, I'm sure you aren't courteous enough even to tell me what it's about …."

"No, we're not," I replied matter-of-factly. "We're busy, okay?" The Fat Lady just huffed at me.

When we finally got Luna to go to bed (in her own dorm, no less!), the Fat Lady was still turned away from us and pouting.

"Albus lives," I said to her. She looked at me with a sly smile and replied, "You're not getting in here until you tell me where you've been!"

"Forget it!" I replied.

So five minutes later, the Fat Lady knew the entire story and I was moping in my bed.

I considered Snape's weird punishement. Now, there are a lot of things I would call Snape without a second thought, but I wouldn't ever call him dumb. He couldn't help but notice that Harry and all of his friends loved Hagrid. Nothing could be dangerous when Hagrid was there ... could it? Was the Forbidden Forest so bad that even having Hagrid there wouldn't save us from whatever was in there? That was seriously worrying.

I thought about every potential reason for Snape's extremely light punishment. Could he be mental? No, not Snape. Him going mental and leaving school would make people happy, which goes against everything he believes in. Could he think what we had done was actually funny? No. Only Gryffindors' pain was funny to him. Heartless, I tell you. Absolutely heartless. Could he be … being nice? No. _No. _NO! Just NO! I could not come up with a single reason he would be like this. Weird. Very, very weird.

In the morning, everyone slept in. The beginning of the school year, you celebrated by partying. Fall break, you celebrated by … sleeping. When I finally woke up at ten, I decided to get dressed and go for a little bit of a morning stroll to check out the good work the Army had done last night. I was expecting more of the same- slogans, phrases, little messages that weren't nearly as thought out as the first one I had put up with Neville and Luna.

But when I stepped into the hallway, I started cracking up almost immediately! The Army had known what captured kids' attention. They had gone for the cheesy-humor approach. My personal favorite had a white stick figure-type little man with a little speech bubble reading, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? No, no, no. I prefer Voldie-G."

There were very few dull messages in the hallway. Some kids had put up quotes from Potterwatch, like the one Fred (or Rapier) was famous for, "The fact remains that he can run faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo." There were some pretty gruesome close-up and labeled diagrams of Snape's hair to go with that one. Bad memories, very, very bad memories. I walked all seven floors and was tempted to go into the dungeons, but decided it would look suspicious to go sight-seeing until everyone was up looking around. I was sure the newly decorated school would change life at Hogwarts as we knew it.


	19. Chapter 18

**Nice, long chapter for you all! At least until Christmas, expect a chapter only every other day, and if it's more often than that, it'll be a good surprise. I'll be working on a little HP Christmas story, which I'll be posting probably starting Tuesday or so. Anyway. Here's the chapter.**

The Carrows took a _m u c h _different approach today than last time. They completely ignored it! You could see the steam coming out of their ears, and of course they could hear how much louder the Hall was at breakfast today, but they pretended not to care. I was really, really disappointed! But I chuckled to myself. I was fairly sure they wouldn't be so calm once the Dungbombs went off in their sleeping quarters tonight!

But after a while, it got boring. People stopped talking, because what we had done hadn't even caused a scene to any extent. Since we had been caught in the act, we could tell anyone about stealing the sword of Gryffindor, we Army leaders realized. We told them all the story, but still, it was boring. Well, I knew that one thing that our detention wouldn't be was boring. Snape hadn't mentioned when it was, but Hagrid came up and told me to meet him on the front steps with Neville and Luna tonight at eight. It was like it was an invitation to tea- casual, cheerful. I wondered again what Snape could have been thinking when he decided to punish us by sending us into the wilderness with our strong, able-bodied friend. Yeah. Not really seeing the "punishment" part of the punishment.

Fall break is so much fun. We hung out in the grounds all day long, and even got in the sixty-degree water with the Giant Squid for a swim. It was sunny and seventy degrees, but somehow the air was still crisp and held the fall. The leaves were red, yellow, and orange, the grass a rich, dark green, and the sky a light and cloudless baby blue. It was right out of a storybook. One without Voldemort and death and worries. It was enough to make you forget that you weren't actually sitting right there in that worriless, deathless, Voldemortless storybook. But, no, I was part of a different story. My story was different. If my life were a book, it would be made into a horror movie. A "what not to do" kind of thing.

"You know," I commented while we were lying in the shade by the lake, "I think this is the best day we've had all year."

"Sure!" agreed Neville. "We did what we've been working towards for months, it's a beautiful day, and you haven't said one thing about-" He stopped. "Being bored," he finished lamely. I laughed.

"Neville," I told him, "I'm not going to let anything bother me today. Sometimes, if you want to do anything with your life, you have to learn to stop worrying about what you used to have … no matter how hard it is … and start concentrating on what you have now." Neville stared at me.

"You're deep today," he commented.

"It must be because we're outdoors. No Nargles, you know," Luna decided.

"Of course," I sighed contentedly, closing my eyes. "No Nargles. That must be it." Not even Luna could coax me out of my happy daze on this wonderful afternoon.

We stayed out until our stomachs were growling so loud that it was bothering the Squid. We had managed to put off going inside to eat for an amazingly long time, and though we had gone out right after breakfast, we almost missed dinner. We had to eat fast to get ready for detention. After stuffing mashed potatoes, steak, and chocolatey truffle down our throats, we got changed into our most forest-compatible clothes and met Hagrid at the front door of the school.

"Hello, you lot," he said cheerfully. "How ya been? Haven't been ter visit me in a while," he added sternly.

"Well, Hagrid," I told him, "we've been busy, you see, organizing all those pranks. Working hard to earn this detention with you, you know." He chuckled. "I knew it was you, when I heard about them pranks. I've been thinkin' o' doin' a little somethin' for the cause meself. Maybe havin' a 'Support Harry Potter' party down at me cabin." He looked at us anxiously. "Whadda ya think, Ginny? Neville? Luna?"

"Er … Hagrid," began Neville gently. "I'm not sure that would be the wisest thing to do. Anything to do with Harry-" he shot a glance at me before continuing "-is not accepted by the general public right now." Hagrid grinned.

"I know that, Neville. Which is exactly why I want ter do somethin' about it." Luna smiled at Hagrid.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," she assured him. Hagrid's face lit up, making me feel bad that I hadn't encouraged him.

"Thank you, Luna," he replied proudly. She just smiled and nodded. I stared at the ground, feeling like a traitor. "It's settled, then," he added happily, apparently forgetting about the firm veto from Neville and the look on my face when he had suggested the idea. "Next Thursday, it'll be. Ye'll all come, won't you?" he asked, looking genuinely worried.

"Of course we will!" I replied. "Harry doesn't have any bigger supporters than us." I stared at my companions as if daring them to disagree. Hagrid just nodded, not sensing anything unusual, while Neville stared at me as if I had just cursed and Luna hummed to herself. Let me tell you something. If Voldemort himself showed up and threatened to kill her entire family for no reason whatsoever, and even end the world, for that matter, I don't think Luna would stop being Luna for a single second. I was considering whether this was a good thing or not when I caught a glimpse of yellow eyes darting through the woods we were approaching. "Um … Hagrid?" I said nervously. "The forest isn't … that dangerous, is it?" Hagrid chuckled.

"No, Ginny. It's nothin' like the teachers tell yer. The forest's not nearly 's bad as all that. They just want ter scare yeh." He glanced over at me and chuckled again. "And apparen'ly it worked, eh? Don' worry. We'll stop an' get Fang on the way." He stopped chuckling when he saw Neville and Luna were just as scared as I was. "Don' be so scared," he assured us. "Harry an' Ron an' Hermione were in here tons o' times, an' look at 'em now …" After he said this, he seemed to realize that it wasn't exactly the greatest pep talk in the world, because he hurriedly went on, "Y'know, they might' not be here righ' now, but they're doin' great things, 'm sure of it. They're not here 'cause they're not the type to sit still when something's wrong wi' the world. An' that's a good thing."

"You mean to say," Neville replied, "that they're brave enough to do … whatever it is they're doing … because they went in here so much? Meaning, you have to be brave to go in here?"

Hagrid looked stumped and frazzled. "Er- it's not scary. Just calm yourselves down," he replied weakly. Just then, we arrived at Hagrid's hut and he opened the door. "After you," he said politely as he let us in. Fang jumped on me immediately and Hagrid actually seemed surprised. The world never ceases to amaze me. "Fang!" he cried, appalled. "Get down, Fang, it's time ter go out to the forest." At the words "go out," Fang got even more excited and jumped on Hagrid instead, slobbering everywhere in the process. "See," said Hagrid with a big booming laugh, "Fang gets excited just ter hear me say 'forest'." I raised my eyebrows. I knew better.

"Let's just get this over with," Neville suggested weakly. He looked awfully pale.

"Are you feeling all right?" I asked him. He looked at me like I was insane.

"We are about to go into the Forbidden Forest, which got its name because it is forbidden, and for good reason. Also, it is pitch black outside and we can't see anything, in addition to having a dog with us that one of us could easily mistake for a vicious animal in the aforementioned darkness, causing us to run away and crash straight into a real animal that will kill us or a tree that will make us fall down and hurt ourselves. Or, the dog could actually start acting like a vicious animal in the forest, if it brings out its wild instincts. We are so far away from the school that no one can hear us scream. And you ask if I'm _okay_?" he cried.

I managed to keep a straight face during this entire lengthy speech, but at his expression following the end of it, the corners of my mouth twitched until I was laughing so hard the tears were streaming down my face.

"Talk about having an o-o-overactive imag-gination!" I sobbed, laughing hysterically. Neville just harrumphed at me, crossed his arms over his chest, and turned his back to me. Did I say Neville had changed recently? Well, I take that back. Same old Neville. Same old weird qualities. But then we all trooped out into the cold, dark night, and I stopped laughing. It wasn't long before we had gotten past Hagrid's hut. It was time to enter the Forbidden Forest.


	20. Chapter 19

**Woohoo, it's another chapter! And the day after I said don't expect a chapter every day. What are the odds? Anyway. ATTENTION: I will be writing an HP Christms special, seven chapters, posted starting tomorrow! Thank you.**

Hagrid and Fang led the way into the forest, Hagrid keeping up a steady stream of instructions the entire time.

"Now, make sure you don't go off the path until you need to," he reminded us. "And whatever you do, don't try and scare each other. Neville, you remember what happened when Malfoy did that ter ya. That was not the best trip to the forest I ever had." Neville just nodded, physically unable to become any paler than he already was. I became even more frightened. I hadn't known Neville had been in the Forbidden Forest before, but apparently he had, and he was still just as scared as I was. Did that mean I had good reason to be? I had kind of been telling myself I was being stupid this entire time- not that it was working, and not that I liked to feel stupid. But still.

Hagrid continued. "Tonigh' we'll be doin' some work that takes us 'round the centaurs. They haven' been too friendly lately, well, actually, it's been qui' a while since they were, goin' on three years now." We all stared at him. "Yeah, I kep' track. They used ter be very helpful. It's much harder now that I have ter avoid 'em," he defended himself. "Tha's the only reason I know. Anyway, what we'll actually be doin' tonigh' is just routine stuff. Ya know. Checkin' on Grawpy, doin' a li'l patrol to check on the res' o' the animals …" He shrugged. "The fores's been peacefully lately. Haven't had a major disturbance since the centaurs carried that High Inquisitor away- what was her name again? Umbridge? Yeah, tha' was it."

He didn't stop talking like this until we reached Grawp, and none of us ever replied. He was just trying to distract us, but it wasn't working. Well, except maybe on Luna.

When we did reach Grawp, we all just stood with our mouths open and stared high up, trying to find his head. In the darkness, it was hard to see at heights that great.

"Hagger!" cried Grawp. Hagrid chuckled. "Aw, hey, Grawpy." He looked at us and explained proudly, "He loves to make up nicknames for everyone. Watch this." He then turned towards Grawp and boomed, "Grawpy, who's your favorite girlie, hmm? Who's your favorite girlie?" We all stared at him. He used "baby talk". It was absolutely revolting. But Grawp sure didn't seem to mind. "Hermy!" he cried delightedly, stomping his feet. "He's real proud of himself, he doesn't learn many names, so pretty much anythin' yer ask him, he'll say 'Hagger' or 'Hermy'. It's jus' the cutes' thing." We all smiled and nodded. I couldn't see anyone else's face in the dark, but I know my eyebrows were sky high. Hagrid yelled a very mushy goodbye to "Grawpy," and we moved on.

Next was the dangerous part. It was time to check on the centaurs.

"Bane?" called Hagrid. "Bane?" A black-haired centaur came galloping out through the trees, holding a bow and arrow and accompanied by an escort of four others. Each one was larger and fiercer-looking than the first.

"We have banned you from this part of the forest many times, Reubus," growled Bane, aiming his arrow at him and holding it there, the string pulled back effortlessly by his heavily muscled arms, while he talked. "Why have you returned?"

Hagrid looked more worried than frightened. "Bane, yeh know I haven't come to fight," he said sadly. "I wish yeh'd realize I don't want ter fight with yer. Just came to make sure all you centaurs was all right." Bane snarled.

"We don't need your help," he growled.

"I know," sighed Hagrid. "Let's go," he added sadly to us.

When we were on the path again, Hagrid told us all about how much he missed the centaurs.

"I used ter check on them all the time. They're not real sociable creatures, but they'll help yer out if yer need them to. But now, they won't even so much 's talk to me if it ain't about rules and regulations and bein' banned," he sighed.

"Friends will come and go. Only magic is forever," announced Luna. Weird, weird, weird.

"Yeh're a real good people person, y'know that, Luna?" smiled Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid," replied Luna happily.

You wanna see self-control? Try not absolutely cracking up when Luna is called "a good people person".

We walked the path for awhile, jumping at every rustle or bump, Hagrid still trying to convince us not be scared of the forest. We had checked a few more clearings and saw some pretty healthy-looking animals, judging by the size and Hagrid's obvious satisfaction.

We stopped by to see the Thestrals. I had only seen them a couple times, because Sirius was the first person I saw die. The same went for Neville. We both stared at them, totally paralyzed with fear as Hagrid and Luna fed them raw, bloody meat out of Hagrid's pack. Luna had been able to see them since first year, since her mum died when she was seven. She was totally comfortable with them by now, and Hagrid had been taking care of them since before he could even see them, though, by now, the sad truth was, there weren't many people in the Wizarding world over the age of ten who couldn't see a Thestral.

Once we had fed them, we somehow found the path again and continued on, this time heading in the direction of the edge of the forest again.

"Are we leaving soon?" I asked, eyeing the moon, which was, by now, directly overhead.

"Yeah," agreed Hagrid. "We just got ter check on the unicorns. There's a couple o' babies, they're real cute," he added delightedly.

Neville stood back while Luna and I pet the golden unicorns and Hagrid checked on the older ones. It was definitely a better end to the night than if we had gone back to the castle with images of the Thestrals still the last thing on our minds.

All too soon, we had run out of excuses to stay in the beautiful, moonlit clearing with the magical animals, and we began the trek back towards Hagrid's hut and then the school. We dropped Fang off at the hut and continued up the steep slope towards the castle. I was pretty proud of myself just for surviving a night spent checking on vicious, large, and, in some cases, (cough, cough, Thestrals, cough, cough) bloodthirsty animals. Wouldn't you feel pretty good about yourself if you spent the night with vampires and made it out alive?

We reached the school doors with tired legs, drooping eyelids, and heaving chests. This had been an exhausting night in every sense of the word. And it was finally time to go to bed.

As I lay in bed that night with my eyes closed, trying to fall asleep, I couldn't help but smile. I had been to the Forbidden Forest and made it out alive. Wouldn't Harry be proud?

**Hey Sarah, didja catch it, didja catch it? Huh, huh, didja, didja?**


	21. Chapter 20

**Hello, friends! I am desperately and contagiously sick. I have a lot of time on my hands. I'm pretty sure that you can expect an update every day for the next month, I have so much time to write. **

**GIANT HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT: I have a new HP Christmas story up! It's called "The Christmas of '97" and the first chapter is being posted, yes, you guessed it, TODAY! Please read it!**

For some reason, the Carrows just wouldn't be fazed by anything we did after that. Nothing! Sure took the fun out of it. Maybe they know more than we gave them credit for. cracks up No, no, that can't be it at all. But however they caught on to our weaknesses, it did make us stop pranking.

Instead, we decided to risk it all and be all out smartmouths!

We got detention after detention. But we found out something no wizard has ever found out before. The Cruciatus Curse is something your body can build up an immunity against! If you have it cast on you an outrageous number of times in an outrageously small amount of time, it's possible. Or … maybe we just stopped caring and learned to ignore it. Either way, we couldn't care less if we got these painful detentions anymore. The Carrows were desperate. They didn't know a single thing to do that would hurt us.

Little did they know how much I hurt when I thought about Harry.

However, Death Eaters don't use emotional pain. Ever. Voldemort doesn't love, ever, and that completely takes away his comprehension of how much pain it causes when someone you love leaves you. Far, far more than the Cruciatus Curse, that much I can tell you. But if you've never experienced it, I can't truly make you understand.

One thing that especially hurts is spending a holiday without your loved one. It was the end of November at fall break, and the holidays got nearer and nearer. Soon, the calendar said December 5, and there still hadn't been any word from Ron and friends, or a letter telling me whether to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas or go home for the holiday. Then, one day, as I munched on burnt toast with chunky grape marmalade (ew and ew), Pig flew in through the window.

"Luna, it's Pig coming through that window!" I cried excited. Then I gulped. "I'm gonna need owl treats, hay, string, and tape. Lots and lots of tape," I said to no one in particular. But Pig didn't look so good, and he was calm as he perched … on the edge of my cereal bowl. There went the Cheerios. With a last farewell glance at them, I pulled the letter crossly from Pig's foot. He hooted indignantly, and I patted him apologetically, remembering how sad it had been when Hedwig, a loyal owl, was killed by the Death Eaters. I then checked the envelope, and found the letter was from my mother! Finally! A connection to the outside world! I sighed with joy and yanked it open.

"Dear Ginny," read the letter.

"How have you been? We all miss you. Ron's spattergroit is no better than when you left. He won't be back at school any time soon. But I'm sure it would help him if you would come home for the holidays. We'll all be looking forward to seeing you.

"Remember that one purse that I chose? How we couldn't find it again after that day, so we had to ask the man who ran the shop? He said he would call if he got it in? There's been no word about that one purse I chose. Just wanted to let you know.

"I love you so, so much, Ginny.

"Hoping to see you soon,

"Your Loving Mother,

"Mommy."

I grinned. My mom was absolutely terrible at her hints. The Death Eaters were bound to find something suspicious about a mother who, during the first half of her letter, acted as though the daughter hadn't had contact with the family in months and needed to be told basic facts, and then, all of a sudden, was also expected to care about a purse. Well, I did care about that purse. The one we chose. _The Chosen One?_ Just thought you might need a little help on that one.

I ran upstairs to start packing, when I realized that every single outfit I had would probably be used between now and Christmas. It was still over two weeks until winter break started. For the first time since I had been at Hogwarts, I wanted desperately, oh, so desperately, to go home. Two weeks seems like a lifetime to a trapped teenage girl.

Then I realized that I had been so busy thinking about the people who I had no chance of seeing any time soon that I hadn't even been missing the peole who were right at home, who could have been comforting me and writing to me this whole time. My mother was probably totally worried about me not writing. After all, it was awfully dangerous at Hogwarts these days, and when the Ministry were the ones doing the killing, who was left to notify the family of anyone who was killed? All in all, I knew I was being rude and torturous to my mother, so I decided to write.

I still had Pig with me, so I sat him down on the dorm desk, commanded him to stay (like that would work if he really wanted to go- that's a good joke), spent ten minutes hunting down my parchment, spent five minutes hunting down my quill, spent fifteen minutes hunting down my ink, and finally sat down to write.

"Dear Mom,

"I miss you, too. Tell Ron I'm okay and he should get that way too. And if the guy with a purse contacts you, tell him it is my favorite purse and that I love it. Of course I remember it!

"I will definitely be home for the holidays. I can't wait to see everyone. Sometimes I get scared and wonder if you guys are okay. But I'm sure you are. All the same, it'll be great to see that with my own eyes.

"I love you more.

"Love and XO,

"Your Loving Daughter,

"Ginny."

**Don't forget to review, everyone! And remember- "The Christmas of '97".**


	22. Chapter 21

**Hi, everyone. Like the update? I have plans for an update every day from now till Christmas. I'll be trying my very best. I hope you like the chap.**

Waiting for Christmas was torture. I felt like a little kid, always watching the calendar and the clock, watching Christmas get closer and closer at much too slow a pace. However, I had a completely different reason for my anticipation. I wasn't expecting a pony, a Power Ranger, a new video game, or any of the things that little Muggle kids want. The reason I wanted Christmas to come was simply that I wanted to see my family alive.

I had never wondered about them this entire time. I felt so guilty. I wanted to make it up to them by spending as much time as possible right in the middle of all the family action this Christmas. I also started wondering and worrying about them constantly.

But time refused to ease my pain. Christmas simply would not come. It was only the 7th. I didn't even have Hagrid's party to look forward to in the meantime, because he had cancelled it due to the holidays coming up and the bad weather that had already arrived.

What did comfort me was writing to my family a lot now. I also wrote letters to Harry and Hermione that I never sent and never did tell anyone about. On the outside, I hadn't changed at all this year. I put on a happy face and kept on going. But it was very rare that my happy outer face matched my ever-changing inner face. I was hoping that seeing my family at Christmas would be one of those rare times.

The Christmas decorations also helped. They were a constant reminder that, no, Christmas really wasn't so far away. After all, every single birthday and Christmas up until I turned twelve had seemed this far away, too. But every birthday and every Christmas had come and gone eventually, just like they were supposed to.

I trained everyone good and hard for Quidditch. We hadn't been training much, because everyone on the Gryffindor team was in the Army. We didn't need to have been training much, though. The Gryffindor team members this year had real natural talent. That took some of the time away, too, and before I knew it, if I were in an old-fashioned movie, those little pieces of paper with the numbers on them would've just been flying off the walls. You know, those old-fashioned calendar-type thingies. Point is, it was almost time to go home now.

Luna said she had a feeling that this was a Christmas that none of us would ever, ever forget. I agreed with her, because I knew I would never forget the worry that this Christmas would bring with it, as half the time we were celebrating, we would be thinking about how Ron, Hermione, and Harry were usually doing the same, right beside us. But little did we know how right we were, how unforgettable this Christmas really would be for both of us, though we would spend it in entirely different places, and in entirely different situations.

I don't think anyone will forget that Christmas, actually. Everyone always seems to have to remember the bad times, and that Christmas was just about as bad as it gets, no matter who you were or whether you even knew who Voldemort was. The truth is, you don't have to know the name of something for your life's path to be entirely altered by it. That Christmas, Voldemort's effects were being felt worldwide, by Muggles and Wizards alike.

I almost think it was worse for the Muggles. Their world was falling apart around them- people dying, solid structures collapsing, disappearances, explosions, the end of the world, it would seem- and they had absolutely no idea what had gone wrong.

That December started out going very, very slowly, but, before I knew it, it was the nineteenth. The day before it was time to go home for the rest of the calendar year. I woke up early that morning, and I laid in bed for a while, thinking.

I realized that I needed to say goodbye to everyone who I would have wanted to have said goodbye to if I heard they died. I didn't know who I would see again and who would be killed in a vicious Death Eater attack on their home, never to return to school again. Now, I wasn't about to go around saying, "I wanted to say goodbye in case I never see you again". That's a total downer.

I had classes that morning, anyway. I started packing, but I lived out of my trunk, so, before I even had time to be late for my next class, I was ready to go. Great. All the more time this evening to be sentimental and goopy. Maybe I should have left packing to the last minute like usual.

I made sure I appreciated Luna that day. She might be annoying, but she also might be about to die. Yes, I had a pretty dismal outlook on life at the moment, but I had good reason to. On top of the obvious, I also had a really bad feeling about this Christmas. Not just the Mum's-going-to-get-creepily-sentimental type of feeling, either. I mean that my feeling that I should say goodbye to everyone in case I or they died was quickly turning into a feeling that I was definitely the one who was going to die. Not them. Well, maybe not die, really. Just … not return to school. At least for the rest of the year That was fairly likely, actually. Since my family was still being watched, at any moment we could be arrested, accused, attacked, etc. So there were plenty of reasons and a good chance that I might not be back at school.

Luna seemed to feel the same way. Her not returning was likely, too. Her father's magazine, the Quibbler, used to be the laughingstock of magazines. Farfetched articles on animals that didn't exist were the main feature. However, recently, it had turned into the only magazine that told the truth. It hadn't yet been taken over by Death Eaters. It was a sort of political magazine with a very pro-Potter status that was confirmed on a weekly basis when the magazine was printed, always holding yet another article of some sort about the war and how people should help Harry in any way possible. Maybe it would typically have gotten repetitive and annoying, but because it was the only magazines that had any truthful articles about this, it was highly useful. It reported any facts available about the latest murders and such, keeping everyone up-to-date. Like I said, it was helpful. And that meant that it wouldn't last long without being taken over by the Death Eaters.

Things sure were looking pretty dim this Christmas season.

Stupid Voldemort!


	23. Chapter 22

**Hello! Now, just to clear up some confusion going on about the title story, it is still "The Christmas of '97". Read & Review! R & R no longer stands for Rest & Relaxation. I know it's not the longest chapter ever, but I'm doing one chapter a day for two different stories! It's a bit ... um ... how can I put this nicely ... nuts!**

Finally, time to go home. We did, however, have classes earlier in the day. They were shortened, however, and we each only had one class. I personally had Potions class, in which we started talking about the NEWTs and did not make a potion at all. Short days really were useless. The class was dismissed before we even really started the discussion.

"Class dismissed," sighed Slughorn, as he watched_ us_ watch the clock. "Merry Christmas to all," he added as we hurried out the door, "and to all a good NEWT." Needless to say, everyone was too busy rushing out to the door to laugh politely as usual.

Finally, it was time to go. Together, Luna and I rushed to finish our last-minute packing and goodbyes in the sixth-year girls' dorms. We didn't have to say goodbye to each other, because we were obviously going to sit together on the train.

We rushed to the Hogwarts end of Platform Nine and Three Quarters a little after noon. The train was to leave at twelve-thirty, but we definitely weren't the last ones on.

When we were leaving for the holidays, everyone got on the train as soon as they reached the platform because there were no parents to say goodbye to, if they had really urgent last-minute goodbyes to make, well, almost everyone was on the train. Also, they all hoped that if everyone was on the train, the conductor would leave early, though he never did, just to make sure that no one was stupid enough to think the time on the ticket was the time you were supposed to actually show up. No one ever was.

We waited on the train, and, finally, the engineer blew its whistle and got it moving. Shouts of joy went up all across the train- we could hear them even through the door that we had closed, the one that went to the corridor.

On the way home, we didn't talk about Voldemort or the war once. That isn't to say that we didn't think of them, but we thought about other, happier things most of the time. We discussed what we wanted for Christmas and what we thought we were actually going to get. We talked about what Christmas traditions out families had and whether we hated them or loved them. Then we talked about how this Christmas was going to be different. We didn't actually talk about the war in that process. We just talked about who wouldn't be with us this holiday that usually was, and whether we thought we would ever see that person again.

Okay, so basically we talked about the war. Sue us.

We were all starved by the time the trolley lady came around, and, unlike last time, all three of us got huge orders. On the holiday trip, she had candy canes and festive things like that instead of fall-themed treats like Pumpkin Pasties.

That kept us busy for a while, and afterwards we got to talking about Christmas again. I don't think there was much else being talked about throughout the entire train. Then we all kind of got bored and closed our eyes.

It was sometime during our naps that the Death Eaters came in.

"Where's Luna Lovegood?" one of the two growled.

"Here," replied Luna sleepily.

"You're coming with us," they replied, grinning.

"That was easy," muttered the guy holding Luna to the other.

"Uh, no!" I replied indignantly. "Okay. A, you don't interrupt my nap, k? That's for future reference. And B, you're not taking her without a fight! You thought you were just gonna take her and leave, eh?" I rolled up my sleeves. "Well, buddy, you've got another think comin'."

I raised my hand as if to punch him. He didn't seem to feel threatened at all, and he didn't need to, if that's actually what I was going to do. But in a movement that was, if I do say so myself, lightning-quick, I yanked my wand from my pocket and cast the Bat-Bogey Hex on him before he had time to lift his eyes from my pocket.

"AARGH!" he groaned in disgust, jumping back and letting go of Luna.

"Gross," added his partner, his nose wrinkling distastefully. Then I cast it at him, too.

Sadly, they could still see to grab Luna again, and, physically, I was no match for them at all.

We had a little tug of war, with me yanking Luna, Neville yanking my waist, Death Eater #1 yanking Luna, Death Eater #2 yanking his waist, and Luna screaming for help like her life depended on it. All the kids crammed into the corridor outside our compartment, but the Death Eaters had locked the door behind them in case something like this happened. No one could get in to help us.

Finally, with a great groan of effort, Neville and I fell back to the floor. Luna sighed with relief as the pressure lifted, but grimaced when she saw who had let go.

Death Eater #1 grabbed her arm, twisting it in a weird way to keep hold of it, and she flinched as she turned around to look at us again.

"It's okay, guys," she called. "I know I'll get home in time for Christmas. Otherwise, I'll just have to wait to get that Crumple-Horned Snorcack horn. That would be annoying."

She paused thoughtfully as they pulled her impatiently out of the compartment. The train stopped, and everyone stampeded into the corridors and made a beeline for the exits. We tried to chase the Death Eaters, but we lost them in the madness. Sadly, they didn't seem to have the same problem with Luna. We could still see them in the distance, gripping her by her arm, but we couldn't get to them through the masses. They'd be back at the Ministry by then. Neville and I looked and each other and shook our heads. Then we remembered where we were.

THE KING'S CROSS PLATFORM!

"Bye," I said quickly to Neville. I frantically shoved through the crowd as my eyes scanned at top speed back and forth across the heads of all the people, looking for my mother or other family members.

Finally, I found my parents. I ran to give my sobbing mother a hug.

"It's okay, Mom," I whispered. "I'm okay."

"Thank God for that," she whispered.


	24. Chapter 23

**This chapter is a little something different for your Christmas present!! **

The next few days leading up to Christmas were uneventful. Uneventful, boring, and definitely not festive. There was no Christmas spirit in our house at all. We could be killed at any minute, and, for all we knew, at least one family member already had been. But my mom tried her best to make this a merry Christmas for all of us. It was hard for her to do that, because it wasn't like she wasn't in just as much pain as we were.

It was just Charlie, me, and the twins this Christmas. Bill had called to say he and Fleur wanted to spend their first Christmas alone. Very dirty thing to say, if you ask me. Anyway, it wasn't so bad, being one of four. I got much more attention than usual, and the twins didn't even have to work at still being funny. They did brighten up Christmas a little. There were even times when I could forget about Luna for a little while, and that was hard. I mean, there was a chance (one we all clung to) that the famous trio was absolutely fine out there somewhere. Safe. Warm. Dare I say happy. But Luna- there was no chance. I had seen it with my own eyes. There was no chance.

That Christmas had many pros and cons. In some ways, it was the best Christmas I've ever had. But in many others, it was the worst. Christmas, for me, has always been about family traditions more than anything else. And _this_- this Christmas was anything but traditional. But then, I still had my family. Er- some of it, anyway.

On Christmas Eve, we enjoyed each other's company while sitting around the fire and warming ourselves. It was roughly twenty degrees outside, and we all felt fairly Christmasy and cozy for the first time this year. Fred and George kept us all effortlessly and blissfully happy, not thinking about everything that was wrong in our world. I tell you, ignorance really is bliss. Suddenly, my mother decided to break that bliss.

"Everyone," she said shakily, "I think we should go to the village church service todayWe all stared at her. We had never gone to church on Christmas Eve before.

"Why the sudden piety, Mum?" asked Fred jokingly.

"I think there are lot of people out there this Christmas who need us to pray for them and show support," she said slowly. "And not all of them are so far away. Before, you know, all those charities, you think, what people, I don't know any people who need help. But this Christmas- look around you. Look at all the empty spaces. Those people would be here if everything was under control and they didn't need help of some sort. Whether it's, for instance"-she glanced at Bill's usual spot-"help sorting out their priorities, or, maybe"-she glanced at Ron's usual spot-"physical help with a difficult task … of some sort," she added, apparently remembering that he hadn't even told her what it was he was doing. She continued, "Or maybe there are some people who don't have a family like ours, for whom Christmas is likely to be a sad time no matter what." Although we all knew he was over his parents (he hadn't even known them in the first place), she glanced at Harry's spot lovingly.

"I think your mother's right," Dad agreed. "Let's go to the service tonight. It'll do us all some good."

None of us complained outright, because it was obvious that Mum and Dad were already pretty depressed, but we grumbled amongst ourselves for the rest of the afternoon as we got ready to go to the little church on the main road.

Finally, five o'clock came. The service would start any minute. We set out, trying to make bright and cheery small talk instead of complaining like we wanted to.

We arrived just as the organ finished the prelude. I felt awkward, never having been in a church before. It was cute. Quaint. The congregation stood up as soon as my family had taken our seats after the prelude. We sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem" first.

The choir processed in during the song, singing as they came. I loved how cute they looked. They were about five or six, mostly. After them followed the seven and eight choir, then the nine and ten. Soon, all twelve grades and kindergarten had processed in during our hymn. It was beautiful- the picture of an old-fashioned Christmas. The younger kids had blue robes with white trim, and the older kids, eleven to eighteen, marked their senority with slightly darker robes and gold trim.

Then they began to sing. They had the most beautiful voices I have ever heard.

They sang "Child of Peace", all of them, and then the younger ones sat down in the front few pews so the older ones, grades 6-12, could sing "Carol of the Bells". The whole time, I sat there in awe.

But that wasn't what got me. No.

What got me ... was the sound of the bells.

The church had giant bells. They were beautiful brass bells. And while they sang that song, the bells rang. They were so beautiful. They were loud and wonderful and so traditional and old-fashioned and reliable and just so darn Christmasy!

I had never been a religious person, and that was the first time that I really believed.Those bells turned around my Christmas and my life. I decided right then that I would keep my chin up and have an altogether better outlook on life.

No, not being depressed about the war wouldn't end it. No, not letting my life be consumed by missing people wouldn't enable me to see them. But yes, it would make the time until I saw them seem a heck of a lot shorter. And yes, not being depressed about the war would make it much easier to get through.

That's what I realized. And that's what I decided to live by.

**Now maybe my chapters can be a little less ... I donnou ... I hate to say it, but ... emo? Haha. Anyway, I hope you liked the new approach- I know I liked writing something out of the ordinary. Updates will be more frequent now. **


	25. Chapter 24

**Another something different. I haven't written yet about being at the Burrow much- that's what this chapter's about. It made me picture it a lot differently. Funny how that happens. **

It was only three days after Christmas.

We were all in the post-Christmas use-your-presents-and-enjoy-the-break phase. Just relaxing and doing whatever with everything we'd gotten.

Then, suddenly, the Death Eaters burst through the door. I couldn't tell you their names, but I recognized them from last year, during the fight, that same night that Snape had killed Dumbledore.

"We're here to do a little inspection," growled one large blonde one, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah," agreed his tough black-haired buddy. "Just a little one, y'know … more like a couple minor head counts, I would say. Like, one of wizards and one of mythical creatures posing as wizards?"

I swallowed. We had all gathered I the front hall, and here they were, probably about to kill us all. Why hadn't we hidden? I wondered this as they ran upstairs, my family hot on their trail. My mother, saint that she is, caught up to them before they reached Ron's room.

"Wait, wait," she said, panting. "He's sick. You have to knock first. Here. I'll do it."

"Ron, sweetheart," my mother wheezed into the crack in the door, still breathing heavily. "It's Mummy, darling," she continued. _As if he would let her talk to him like that even if he were on his deathbed! _I scoffed mentally. "I have Ginny, Daddy, Georgie, Ginny, and a couple nice men who came to see you. Charlie left this morning, he didn't want to wake you. Can we come in, sweetie?"

There was a groan from inside. My mother faked a grimace and sighed.

"He doesn't seem to be having a good day. Could you come back another time?"

The Death Eaters weren't falling for it. Well, maybe the blonde one was. But the black-haired one sneered at her.

"No, little missy, we cannot 'come back another time'," he said in his highest voice. "We're getting into that room whether you like it or not. All right? And that's final! So shut up and step aside!"

My father stepped towards them and stood next to my mother.

"She asked you," he said through gritted teeth, "to come back another time. I'm sure you heard her. She asked as nicely as possible."

"Why should we care?" asked the Death Eater lazily.

"I'm going…" continued my father, his teeth still gritted, "to have to insist… that you come back …_another time_."

The Death Eaters really looked scared now.

"Fine," replied the blonde nervously. "Maybe we will."

They walked casually out of the house. No one said a word. My mother just hugged all of us kids. She was shaking. My dad pulled her off of us and held her. My mom was so afraid of her family being hurt during the war. It was her greatest fear. She tried to hide it, but I could tell. She thought that by hiding it, she could help convince us that there really wasn't anything to be afraid of. If she went around tell us how much she feared for us, she thought she'd give the impression that there was something to be afraid of. What she didn't realize was that if she properly confessed her fears to us, then we could comfort her and make her realize that we knew how to take care of ourselves. We'd be okay. You might be wondering how I figured all this out. Well, she's not the best at hiding her feelings.

Just call her Ron.

Anyway. We were all a bit shaken by this, but, me, with my new outlook on life, well, I was just glad we were all still alive.

After they had gone, my dad went in the room to try and teach the ghoul to say "go away" and "I feel terrible". Didn't work so well, but, you know. Go figure.

We all sort of braced ourselves for their next attack. We weren't sure if they would be back later with reinforcements, next week with the entire pack, or maybe even if they would simply let it go. But we didn't have much hope for that last one. After all, not all Death Eaters are wimps. I mean, they can't all be Draco Malfoys.

When I had first gotten home, we had all been really tense. We had no idea what would happen. Then, over Christmas, we had all relaxed a bit. But we had acted too soon. Well, we had learned our lesson- we were tense again now, that's for sure. The atmosphere at the Burrow that day was so tense I found myself holding my breath. It was like that entire day someone was pointing a wand at each of us with the words "Avada Kadavra" on their lips. Everyone was acting just that scared.

We all stayed together in the sitting room. We didn't talk much, either. We didn't know who was listening anymore. It was like we had taken shelter from a hurricane or a tornado. We were all hugging and their were tears in some of my family members' eyes. We wanted to stay together and no one left the room without taking someone else. That's exactly what storm refugees act like on television. Maybe we were hiding from a storm. A storm of fear, horror, and pain. I tried to keep my better outlook, but it was hard in this situation. I just kept thinking how easily we all could've been dead right now. That helped me put things in perspective, most definitely.

I thought of that, and I decided to think of other things that were definite. Good things. Harry definitely loved me. I definitely loved Harry. All my family members, at least the ones that were sitting with me, were definitely okay at the moment. I definitely loved all them, and they definitely all loved me back. And Harry had told me how Dumbledore had always thought that Voldemort's weakness was his inability to love or even to understand the power of love. He said he was glad he and I didn't have that problem. So I was definitely not Voldemort. That's a plus.

I only wished the future, one way or another, were as definite.

Then I might have known that they were going to come back the next day, and, this time, they'd be successful.


	26. Chapter 25

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope it's already turning into a good one. Sounds nuts, but the updates really will be more frequent now that I'm going back to school and getting back into my regular routine- plus, I finally managed to wrap up my Christmas special. Here's Chapter 25.**

The details of the next day are a little sketchy. At the time, I didn't really want to remember what went on that day, and apparently I was fairly successful. One thing I do remember is that the tense atmosphere didn't go away overnight. It was still nearly silent throughout the house during the entire day. We went back to our normal lives and didn't always have to be in the same room, but our family lunch in the kitchen took considerably longer than usual even without the chatter.

If there had been any shred of "it-can't-happen-to-me" foolishness stuck deep inside any of us, it had just been shattered. Not that there had been a lot of that going around the Burrow, all the people living in it being the friends of Harry Potter and the family of one of Harry's best friends.

It was good that we all had a good grip on reality, though. We had learned early on in the war that Voldemort could, would, and did hurt just about anybody. We'd accepted it and we'd learned to protect ourselves and be careful around people we didn't know. This goes way beyond Stranger Danger, I'm telling you.

One thing about being hom was really, really weird. No Order. Once we had started being watched, they'd stopped writing and visiting, just like Harry had done and just like we told everyone to do. I wasn't used to having such a small group at my house on Christmas and around the holidays. I got pretty bored with no one to talk to. I missed Tonks in particular. We'd always been good friends, but I hadn't been able to talk to her in almost five months now. I spent my time writing more unsendable letters. My first one was to Tonks.

"Dear Tonks," I wrote.

"How are you?

"It doesn't seem right here at the Burrow during the Christmas holiday without all the Order members parading in and out of the place. I miss you all, and you in particular.

"Remember how you used to make your nose change, especially into a pig snout, to amuse Hermione and I during dinner while the Order headquarters was 12 Grimmauld Place? I miss those days. Voldemort's got much more of an impact now- clearly, considering I can't even send this stupid letter.

"I worry about you guys all the time. When you can't write, it's so hard to know if you're okay. Well, no, it's not just hard, it's impossible. I don't know if you're okay even while I write this. That's the hardest thing in the world.

"Mom told me you were pregnant. Congratulations! I hope you and the baby are doing okay. I feel shut out of the whole world here. I probably won't even be able to find out when your baby's born. And Death Eaters invaded our home yesterday. The only reason they left was that my dad made them leave with a promise to come back another time. So I might not even live to know what gender it is or actually see the baby. I know it sounds depressing, but anyone with a good grip on reality sounds like a pessimist in times like these.

"I honestly didn't write to try and depress you, but, looking at this letter, it sure seems like that's the only thing it'll do. Just one more reason not to try and send it, along with the fact that the Death Eaters would burn it without giving it to you, but not before reading it and finding out where we had headquarters and where someone might be hiding right now, for all we know- oh, plus, let's not forget the good laugh they'll have over how sentimental I'm being.

"Anyway, I wrote to say that, if anything happens, Tonks, you know that I love you. We all do. And I really hope that I get to tell you that, because I realized I have never told any of you Order members that, but I love you all.

"Congratulations again, and I really hope that I was just being paranoid to write this letter. Don't worry about me or the rest of my family. We're all okay.

"Love,

"Ginny."

If you want to know the truth, I wrote to Tonks first because I had a funny feeling that I needed to. I had a weird gut instinct that I might not get to see her again or tell her in person how much I loved her and all the Order members who were like extra parents to me. It made me sick to think that if my gut instinct was right, she would never know, because I couldn't actually send the letter.

I walked into the kitchen to talk to my mom.

"Mom," I began nervously, and she whirled around, startled at the sudden break of the silence, "have you heard from- from Tonks and- and Lupin lately?"

"Very little," she answered, turning around to supervise the magical chopping of carrots and whirling her wand to place them in the pot that she had set on the stove next to the cutting board. "Last I heard," she said cautiously, not looking at me as she made her wand clean the cutting board and begin to chop celery, "Lupin was regretting marrying Tonks because he didn't want to-to put their child or any other being through what he's going through and has gone through ever since he was bitten as a child. He left."

I was shocked into silence. My mother had never told me anything like that before. She had just let things like this blow over without telling me and then not mentioned that it had happened at all. Tonks and Lupin were having problems already? And my mom had explained them to me in detail that easily?

She turned around and saw my puzzled expression.

"You're old enough to know about these things now," she said, tears in her eyes. She blew her nose and wiped her eyes. "Mind you," she added tearily, "I got this information a reasonable amount of time ago and it could easily be as out-of-date as that rotten month-old tomato I was trying to cut up earlier by now without me ever having heard a word of updated news. It's so hard to safely communicate with the rest of the Order anymore, and I haven't heard from any of them in weeks. It's one of the hardest things about this war, just not knowing in general. Not knowing how everyone is … not knowing when you'll know how everyone is … not knowing if you'll live to see tomorrow."

I just stared at my mother like a baby while she made her speech. She had obviously finally gotten the message that I wasn't a baby, and how did I respond? I froze. Absolutely froze. Well, wasn't this just fantastic.

My mother continued to dab at her eyes and blow her nose for several minutes before I finally regained control of my body. I put my arm around her.

"It's okay, Mum," I said, trying to be comforting. "Everything has to end sometime, even the war. It can't go on forever, especially not with great people like Harry, Ron, and Hermione out there fighting against it. Mum, if anyone can do it, it's _them_. Harry's got the nerve, Ron's got his back and helps him no matter what, and Hermione's got the brains to teach them _anything _they need to know. _They can do it_. _The war is going to end, and soon._ And it's going to be … because of them"

I was very emphatic, and by the end of the speech, I believed myself.

And right around when I was being so proud of myself for showing my mother that I deserved to be treated like a grownup, plus for cheering myself and my mother up, is when the Death Eaters charged in.

There were five of them, wands aimed, who charged into the kitchen. You could practically already hear the words "Avada Kadavra" on their lips. Their every movement whispered it, their every glance suggested it. These were no mindless and skill-lacking yesmen. These were the real thing. Devoted to Voldemort. Convinced Purebloods should rule the world. Trained with skills beyond any of my family's in Dark Magic. And determined to kill my family.

"How sweet," spat one of them. "A little final mother-daughter session before they get slaughtered. How d'ya like that?"

He was a brutal, highly muscled young man in ripped robes that blatantly showed off the Dark Mark branded on his upper left arm who had greasy, jet black hair reminiscent of Snape's. He was accompanied by a brunette who couldn't have been five years older than me and who would've been really pretty if she wasn't caked in dirt and if she had spent a moment of time on her hair anytime after she was five, as well as two middle-aged men and one woman their age, who had been sensible enough to put on masks, but whose voices weren't disguised as they taunted us.

At the sound of the aforementioned voices, my family rushed in.

"Stop it," growled my father.

"Get away from them," Fred commanded.

"Or we'll get our wands out too," finished George.

"You're just lucky Charlie and Bill already left," scoffed Fred.

"They wouldn't like you getting near the women of the house," George helped.

"Neither do I," added Dad.

After he spoke, there was an awkward pause.

"I don't know about you," said the ringleader, the one with Snape hair, after about a minute, "but I'm just waiting for someone to give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now. Because those weren't good enough, you blood traitors."

"How about the fact that the only reason the Dark Lord-er- _Minister_ sent us was to check and see if the kid was really sick in bed with spattergroit, and he threatened to kill us if we didn't do exactly what he told us to do and nothing else until Potter's killed?" suggested the woman, examining her filthy fingernails as she spoke.

"Good reason," agreed the ringleader, paling. "Let's just get down to business, shall we, then?"

This time, there was nothing we could do to stop them. We ran up behind them to the door and we all stood panting around it once we arrived in record time, Death Eaters and blood traitors alike.

"Let's just have a look-see," Ringleader suggested in between loud pants coming from his maniacally grinning mouth.

"First let's-let's see if he's up to visitors?" requested my mother, bent double, standing up, but with her hands on her knees and looking imploringly up at Ringleader as she tried desperately to catch her breath.

"None of that crap," replied the middle-aged, masked woman, and promptly walked up to the door and, with a silent spell, blasted it into millions of pieces. The Ringleader glared at her for taking his job.

"Gwarghhhh," groaned the ghoul inside the now-exposed room. "Ooooahhhwergen," it added as it took in the scene and we all rushed through the doorway.

"And this is," sneered the younger woman, the first to arrive at the ghoul's bedside, "your youngest son?"

She watched him closely with an ice-cold glare.

"They might not be lying," she sneered with a laugh, earning a chuckle from her cohorts.

I leapt at her.

"DON'T-YOU-DARE-SUGGEST-THAT-MY-BROTHER-REALLY-LOOKS-LIKE-THAT!" I shrieked as I tried to escape the hold of my father and brothers.

"Hmm," replied the Death Eater, clearly delighted. "Struck a nerve, have I? Now don't worry, you didn't give anything away, we already knew this wasn't him. But … your temper seems to be your weakness, sweet little baby thing … this is interesting … quite interesting indeed …"

She watched me being tortured, pacing around me as I wrestled against the strong grasps of my family. Finally, Ringleader stepped in.

"That's quite enough, Tring," he said calmly. Tring stopped pacing around in front of me. My brothers released me, but my father kept a firm hold on my shoulders. She stuck her tongue out at me, and I lunged again, but my father held me.

"That's quite enough out of you, Ginevra. You're only making this harder," he muttered in my ear.

"Telling secrets, are we?" cooed Ringleader. "None of that." He hit us both with the Cruciatus Curse. The entire time, my father didn't let go of my shoulders. It was a full minute of pain beyond pain as I thrashed and twitched.

"Now," continued Ringleader casually when he had lifted his wand. "You will be being watched very, very closely from now on. If I were you, I'd watch what you say … do …" he walked through the room, placing his fingertips on Ron's things and making us all cringe, "and even …" he paused, looking at me, "_think_."

The Death Eaters enunciated and spat out their words. They were big on italics type of talking. I'm pretty sure they thought it made them sound cool.

"That will be all," finished the Ringleader.

He and his ringleaders whirled their robes around them and hurried out the room. Moments later, we heard the door slam.

"I'll-I'll get the duster," fussed my mother. "I don't want all his grease covering Ron's room when he gets back, no, I'll just have to clean it- Ginny, help me, two wands are better than one, hmm? Yes, yes …"

She babbled on and on the entire time we were cleaning- and that's saying something. We did a full scrub down. I don't think the room had looked this clean when it was first built, let alone since Ron'd been living in it.

Finally, we sat down to a late dinner of sandwiches from leftover meatloaf. Dad and my brothers had had to find their own food while we had been cleaning.

"Ginny …" began my mother, putting down her sandwich, "I have to discuss this with your father, but …" she sighed. "I think it's best if you don't go back to school. I just don't think it's in your best interests to go back there right now. It's dangerous, especially for you. You'll probably be staying home until the war ends. Next year at the earliest, and that's if God and luck are with us twenty-four-seven for the rest of the year, sweetheart." She gave me a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I know you love Hogwarts."

I sighed.

"Yes, I do," I replied, "but better alive at home than dead at school, right?"

My mom nodded.

"That's the spirit, sweetheart," she whispered, rubbing my hand.

Guess I could remember more than I thought after all.

**I know, I know, it's so long that it's basically two chapters rolled into one. But I just couldn't stop!!**


	27. Chapter 26

**In a rush, here it is!**

I was stuck. In my house. For five months. With no one but my family.

You have no idea what that can do to a sixteen-year-old girl. Or anyone else, for that matter.

Anyway. There are stages of being stuck in your house with your family for three months after being attacked by Death Eaters because you were pretending your ghoul was your brother and … well, anyway, there were stages of our captivity.

The first stage … was Waiting. We spent our time together during this phase, for the most part. We expected the Death Eaters to come through the door at any time, wands aimed and ready to kill us before we could ask why. And asking why doesn't take long. I should know. I did it all the time when I was little.

This stage lasted about a week. The entire time, we were just waiting for the Death Eaters to come back. The suspense of the waiting, paranoia, and fear affected us all in different ways. My mom spent her time fussing over us kids. There were only so many things to warn us against and she kind of got repetitive because we couldn't hear from the outside world what tricks Voldemort had cooked up lately while he had us imprisoned in our own home. Fred and George (the only brothers left at home for the moment, as we were still feuding with Percy, Bill and Charlie had left from being here at Christmas before the Death Eaters came even the first time, and Fred and George hadn't been planning on leaving for a few days after that, but now were stuck) tried to keep us all from getting depressed, which was a pretty big job at that point. I prayed, worried, and basked in the presence of my family.

My dad was the only one in the family who kept a level head. He sent the ghoul back to the attic. Then he told us that we would have mandatory defensive spell practices with his assistance every evening.

The second stage was Jumpy Relief. We were all a bit hyper on nerves and excruciatingly jumpy. Every glass, every pin, heck, every crumb was heard as it dropped to the floor, and everything made us jump a mile. This gave "high blood pressure" a whole new meaning, let me tell you.

We more or less went back to our normal lives now, but my mother checked on us (even though we were teenagers) every hour, and family meals took an hour now instead of their usual fifteen minutes, all of us lingering around the table until we were fresh out of excuses. (Forget new and creative ones. We ran out of those on day one.)

This stage lasted for about a month, gradually morphing into the third stage as time went on and we got a little calmer.

That whole time, my mother cooked day and night to keep her mind off of things, my dad came up with more safety precautions (while continuing the nightly lessons), and my brothers were their usual naturally entertaining selves. Nothing could bring them down, and I do mean nothing. Want to know what I was doing that whole time? I jumpily prayed, jumpily worried, and jumpily basked in the presence of my family.

We had now realized that the Death Eaters weren't going to jump out at us from around a corner at any moment, but we had also realized that we were still in danger. But more importantly, it is now time to reveal the last stage.

The third and final stage is Utter Boredom.

That's when you're sick of praying, worrying, and basking in the presence of your family! It's when you're sick of cooking …and coming up with more safety procedures (while continuing the nightly lessons) … and being your usual entertaining self! It's when you are just … plain … bored.

I'm pretty sure you have all _thought_ that you were bored before. But no. You weren't bored. You weren't completely and one hundred percent entertained. But you weren't bored.

_I_, on the other hand, was bored. I helped my mom in the kitchen, I helped my dad come up with safety procedures, and I did a little entertaining-self banter back and forth with Fred and George. (Anything but praying, worrying, and/or basking in the presence of my family.) But it all got old- and fast.

That miserable stage lasted for four months and one week.

It was some time early on in the Waiting stage that we got a letter from Tonks. Oh, excuse me- we got a letter from the Ministry.

It read, "Dear Weasley family,

"This is Nymphadora Tonks. I work for the Auror department at the Ministry of Magic. It is my obligation to write to you and inform you that you, as well as your two sons, are being watched. You are hereby under official house arrest and the Ministry expects cooperation and no violation of the laws regarding Wizarding house arrest, which are as follows:

"1. You may not leave your home at any time for any reason.

"2. You are to accept that The Ministry has the right to take serious action if you leave your home at any time for any reason. The consequences are as follows:

"a. Punishment by Cruciatus Curse.

"b. Punishment by Death.

"c. Punishment by Official Imprisonment in Azkaban.

"d. Specialized Circumstantial Punishment.

"3. You are not to have contact with any Wizards or Muggles until your house arrest has been officially lifted by Minister Thicknesse.

"These are the rules of your house arrest, and, as stated earlier, you are expected to follow all three without exception. The Ministry is sure there will be no trouble and reminds you that if you do not break the rules then there will be no reason for the punishment to take place.

"Thank you,

"Nymphadora Tonks."

The entire letter was typed up and very neat. We hadn't been sure what exactly Tonks did at the Minstry these days, but apparently she was becoming a top-notch spy if she was close enough to the Minister to write an official document. Speaking of official, why'd it all have to be so official anyway?! I swear they used the word five times.

But none of that was the really interesting part. Even if it hadn't been official, we'd basically been under house arrest for a week now. It was no big deal. But the postscript sure was. It was scrawled hastily in Tonks' curly handwriting. It read:

"P.S. Hello, Weasley family! The post isn't allowed to read Ministry documents once they're in the envelope, so I thought I'd write you a little note on the bottom after I ran the official part past my supervisor. They'll never find out.

"I hope you're well, everyone! I know I am. Remus has moved back in (he says he was taught his lesson by 'a helpful angel with experience in such matters'- whatever that's supposed to mean- but it doesn't matter, I'm just glad he's back) and I'm really looking forward to having a little baby boy in about five months. It seems so long to wait!

"I know you're under house arrest, but you have a great house, you know? I'm sure you're doing just fine, if you don't kill each other. I know I would have wanted to if I were stuck in my parents' house for five months straight when I was the kids' age. I know they've probably gone nuts.

"We've all just got to hang in there for a little while longer. Lupin's saw Harry just a few months ago and he said he was doing just fine, and if I know Harry (which we all do), then he'll be off doing really important things right now, because as long as he's alive, he considers himself obliged to be trying to get Voldemort not to be. He'll be concentrating on that every minute, I just know it.

"I know this war'll end soon. It'll end up okay.

"Love,

"Tonks."

"P.P.S. for Ginny only: He'll be back."


	28. Chapter 27

**This chapter sort of connects Ginny's Deathly Hallows story and Harry's ... but not enough for them to get to talk to each other ... confused enough? Okay, then I suppose I can let you read ...**

_I must be mad. _

That's all I could think when I stared out that window.

It was the day after we had gotten Tonk's "official" letter from the Ministry. I had been ready for another boring afternoon of staring out the window and daydreaming about the things that might be happening out of my sight. But when I looked out the window, I saw, in the distance, to my absolute shock, three people who I could just barely make out. But that wasn't the surprising part. The surprising part was that the first appeared to have black hair, the second appeared to have bushy brown hair, and the third … appeared to have Weasley-red hair.

"MUM!" I yelled.

"Ginny! Ginny, what is it?!" she cried, running in with apron still on and the onions she'd been chopping flying behind her, confused by the sudden jerking of her wand.

That was the good thing about having such a paranoid mother- she came the second I called.

"Mum," I said slowly, "come look out the window."

And she did. She came over to the window and looked out at the lawn.

"Ginny, I really don't have time to waste. Either show me what it is, or I'm going back into the kitchen to finish the soup," she said impatiently.

"First of all," I said, "we're under house arrest, we've all got more than enough time to waste. And second of all, don't look straight ahead. Turn. Quick, there were a few people there, they might be gone. I don't know."

"I think I see something …" said my mother, squinting.

"Yeah, over there! Keep looking! Are they still there? Can you see them?"

My mother squinted heavily. She grunted and came closer to the window. She stood there for about five minutes, then shook her head and sighed.

"No, Ginny, I can't see a thing out there anymore. I've got terrible eyesight, you know that. What was so important, anyway?"

I hurried past her and stared out the window. Now it was my turn to sigh. They really were gone.

"Ginevra! I asked you a question. What was so important?"

"Nothing," I muttered. "It just looked like- but it couldn't've been. No, never mind. It was just my mind playing tricks on me.

My mother stared at me for a while, waiting to see if I was going to explain my strange behavior, but I said nothing, so neither did she. After a while she shook her head once more and headed back into the kitchen. From my place by the window, as she walked through the doorway, I swear I distinctly heard her mutter, "Teenagers. Raised seven of them, haven't I, but they don't get any easier to figure out, not at all …"

I didn't want to tell my mom what I thought I'd seen. This wasn't the first thing that made me think my long confinement might be making me go insane. When Bill'd called to say he couldn't come down to the Burrow for Christmas, I could swear I'd heard Ron in the background. Now, it had been a sort of muttering, and Ron muttered a lot when he was nervous, so tat I could believe that. But the crying I'd heard … that was hard to believe of Ron. Though I hadn't heard Hermione in the background … yes, if something had happened to Harry, Hermione, or both of them, that would account for the crying that I thought I might have heard … Though I would've trusted Bill to tell me if it was something like that ...

Here's how it went down.

The phone rang, back when we were allowed to actually talk to people who weren't in our house. (Yeah, those were the days.) I picked it up and was delighted to hear Bill's voice. Christmas with my family had kept me going for the last month at least. Bill would probably be calling to say they'd be down soon. It would even be good to see Fleur again, now that, for several reasons, I didn't have to worry about her being competition for Harry anymore.

"Hi!" I had answered to Bill's hello. "What's up, stranger? You coming down here for Christmas or what? We got the tree, you know, and Mum's been making your favorite cookies- the gingerbread ones shaped like the candy canes and with the Red Hots, you know- for days. We have so many, you could eat them for every meal, and even if you ran out, which you wouldn't, Mum would make you more in a second. Anyway …"

"I have some- some bad news," said Bill slowly.  
It was then that I noticed a faint sound in the background that could be crying.

"Ohmigod. Did someone die?" I asked.

"Ginny! What was that for? And no. It's only bad news for you guys, actually- Fleur and I want to spend our first Christmas alone. We're not- we're not coming to the Burrow for Christmas this year. Is that okay? Can I talk to Mom?"

"They'll never buy it!" groaned a quiet background voice, before another one angrily hushed it until it fell silent.

"Sure," I murmured, hanging my head.

I went to the kitchen and handed the phone to my mom, who put down the tray of cookies she had been taking out of the oven and pulled off her oven mitts to take the phone.

"Hello?" she said, slamming the oven door shut and wincing.

She watched me, puzzled, as I trudged back out of the kitchen, my chin hanging all the way down to my chest.

"Is something wrong …?" I faintly heard her say as I flopped down on the couch.

This was weird. Too weird. Something was definitely up.

Who had been crying? My brother did not abuse his wife, of that I was sure. It hadn't been Fleur, unless they'd lied and someone really had died.

I wished the voices had been louder. I hadn't been able to distinguish who they were. But there had definitely been at least three voices. Bill's and two others. Presumably Fleur's. But who else?

I sighed and turned on the radio. I supposed I would never know for sure whose voices those were.

I could, after all, have imagined them … Perhaps I was going mad …


	29. Chapter 28

**Hi, everyone!! I know I didn't update yesterday. It was a Friday. I hate doing things on Fridays. What can I say. Here's the chapter!**

The Daily Prophet _could _be the cause of my madness.

Tonks sent us the newspaper each day. She always sent it, and no one else, because marked Ministry documents were the only ting that the Ministry couldn't intrcept. It just wouldn't make sense for them to do that.

It would be like saying to yourself, "Oh ho ho, self, what do you have here? Up to something suspicious, self?"

Then you would look shocked at yourself and reply in your most saintly voice, "Oh, but of course not!"

Then you might shake your head and say to yourself, "I really need to stop talking to myself."

Anyway, the Prophet workers were conspiring against me!

They just had to torture me with horrific articles claming Harry, Ron, and Hermione had done absolutely outrageous things, like causing the mass disappearance of over 200 people at the Hotel Britannia in Wales (Death Eater work), the killing of the fifty Muggles found dead in London (Death Eater work), and the fifteen latest cases of wizards being tortured for information about the Order until they went mad and landed in St. Mungo's.

At least these articles were losing the Prophet its credibility, even with the idiots who had been stupid enough to listen to it two years ago when it had been publishing all those idiotic articles about how Harry and Dumbledore had "lied" when they said Voldemort was back.

Then there were the big front-page pictures of Harry with "Undesirable No. 1" written underneath them in huge, bold letters.

"I don't know about all this Undesirable stuff," began Fred as he opened the paper.

"I agree," said George. "He looks like a regular hunk to me."

"You're quite right, brother of mine," replied Fred. "I think our sister is desiring him right this very moment, as a matter of fact!"

"By George, I think you've got it!" snickered George.

I laughed, but added, "It's really not funny that he's on the front page, you know. After all this, what if he were killed by some random Death Eater."

"I think …"

"Our baby sister …"

"Has gone mad," announced the twins.

"Let's use common sense," suggested Fred. "If it was really possible for him to be killed by a random Death Eater 'after all this', then how would he have even begun to make it through 'all this'?"

"Several ways," I replied crisply. "I just do not care to disclose the information at this time."

Fred and George raised their eyebrows.

"Now, I know what you're thinking, and that is not a way-" began Fred, before I interrupted, "Oh, shut up and grow up, why don't you!"

But I was laughing, of course.

"Little sister!" cried Fred. "You've wounded me!"  
"Right, then." I cleared my throat. "I, Ginny Weasley, hereby do apologize and admit that I actually do not hate or dislike my brothers. That is all."

The twins clapped. George pretended to wipe a tear out of his eyes.

"Beautiful," he whispered.

My brothers and I did amuse each other occasionally. We were still in the Waiting stage at this point, so we needed something to distract us but were too busy worrying when we weren't distracted to be bored. But eventually we would get bored of each other, I do promise you this.

Then there was the Muggleborn Registration Committee lists.

One day while I was still at school, there was an article about Muggleborns. It read:

"The Ministry of Magic hereby declares that all Muggleborns must register with the Muggleborn Registration Committee at the Ministry of Magic immediately. This is to ensure that none of the said Muggleborns have stolen their magic from pureblood wizards, thereby making those pureblood and power-deserving wizards free.

"Those who do not cooperate will be punished to the highest extent of the word's meaning and the Ministry's power. This may mean punishments such as house arrest, torture by Cruciatus Curse, or death. The Prophet is in support of all Ministry decisions and starting tomorrow will publish a daily list of Muggleborns who have not yet registered with the Muggleborn Registration Committee, part of the Ministry of Magic."

Obviously, my first thought was "_Hermione!_".

First of all, I wasn't sure if they wre at a place where they could et the newspaper and read about this at the moment. And even if they were, it's not as if Hermione could stroll into the now-Dark Ministry of Magic with Ron and Harry in tow, register, and mosey on out again to continue working on killing Voldemort as usual.

The whole thing sort of reminded me of a census. You know, "all people must return to the place of their birth," yada, yada, yada. But this time it was more like, "all people who aren't exactly like the government must go to government headquarters so we can come up with a reason to kill you while you're here and trapped". Lovely.

Every day, Hermione's name was on that ever-shorter list of unregistered Muggleborns. Obviously, I hadn't expected it go away. But still, it always made my heart sank to know that at least one of the trio hadn't gotten some sense driven into them, ditched the other two, and made it to safety.

But maybe it was too late for that after all. Maybe she was already too famous to do that. Harry was, no question about that one, but I hadn't been sure about Ron and Hermione. Would it be possible for them to give it up and come home without being bothered by the Ministry? Would they be left alone?

Then I remembered that I was on house arrest just for being a part of Ron's family.

I thought at a little more and realized that it was too late in other ways. Not only would the Ministry stop them from living a peaceful life if they came back (well, peaceful besides the war going on around them), but there conscience would, as well. They could never leave Harry. The three of them had been best friend for six years. (That's one good thing about boarding school, if anything can get you a close friend, it's having to be around them 24/7 and being forced to get used to any flaws they might have. Not that Harry has a ton of flaws, but Ron and Hermione sure see a lot flaws in each other. Or pretend to, anyway. wink Hermione would tell me anything if I asked her. I know the real deal.)

And it wasn't as if I wanted Harry to be left all alone trying to kill Voldemort, either! It was just a bit hard to lose not one, not two, but three people you used to see and talk to every day- all at once. And possibly permanently.

It seemed like this was one of those wars that would end with one big battle. It wasn't country vs. country. No. This was personal. If you thought about it, there hadn't been any real battles like in other wars. The Death Eaters had killed people. That's it. The people of the Wizarding community hadn't had a chance to fight back or anything. The one-sidedness of the war really showed you what huge cowards the Dark wizards and Death Eaters that were on Voldemort's side really were. The only one who had gotten a chance to fight back was Harry, and look what he had to do! Hide the entire time!

Yes, the Prophet made me think about all this.

Funny how something so stupid can make other people be so smart!

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! It is fantastic to know someone is really reading your story! If you don't think anyone is reading your story, it really makes you not care about continuing it. Monk94key is my only reviewer! C'mon, people! I need variety of opinion! REVIEW!**


	30. Chapter 29

The next day, I got mail.

I woke up around eleven and headed straight to the breakfast, my eyes still half-closed- I was driven by the mouthwatering aroma of waffles still in the iron, not by any work by my still-resting brain, which frequently refused to wake up in the mornings.

Licking my syrup-and-whipped cream-coated lips as I walked into the hall half an hour later, patting my stomach and grinning maniacally, I was finally awake. (Sugar'll do it every time, never fails, my friend.) Suddenly, I noticed that there was an owl quietly tapping on the window, staring at me imploringly. It had a letter on its leg, and it wasn't in an official Ministry of Magic envelope, either. That meant it was probably from an actual person instead of some robot of a Ministry worker. How was that possible?

I rushed to open the door, and the owl got off the window. He flew in immediately and landed on my shoulder. He was very cute and seemed to be the most trusting owl I'd ever met. I'd never seen anything like him. He was jet black with white circles around his eyes. But I was too busy staring at the leg with the letter on it to notice much else at that point. I had to get that thing off before he ended up stabbing with his tiny, razor-sharp talons.

"Hello, sweetheart," I said to him. He was tiny, much smaller even than Pig. "Can I have that letter? Please?"

That smart little owl held out its leg with a haughty little hoot. He seemed pretty proud of himself for knowing what he was supposed to do. My dad had taught me how to spot an Animagus, though, and this owl wasn't one. He was just a smart alec.

I chuckled to humor him and took the letter off his leg. He sat down and waited patiently while I opened the envelope and unfolded the letter. The letter wasn't on Ministry paper, either. The Ministry never sent anything not "official", but this sure wasn't.

Now, that in itself was suspicious. We weren't supposed to get any mail from anyone but the Ministry. How had it gotten past the Ministry if it really wasn't secretly a Ministry document if or if the Ministry hadn't already seen it and declared it squeaky clean (a.k.a. boring)?

I glanced at the actual letter and gasped.

The thing was … the signature said Hermione.

I calmed down a little and then thought about this.

How stupid did they think I was? Like, honestly. Think about it. I get mail after being told I can only get mail from the Ministry. It's also supposedly from my very good friend who is supposedly off in the middle of nowhere, with no way to write also with the knowledge that doing so would put one of her best friends (and longtime crush)' family in terrible danger. Hedwig was dead and Pyg was with me- Crookshanks, that demon, was with Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and was useless for delivering letters, anyway- useless for anything, actually, in my opinion. I knew before I started reading the actual letter that this was a fake.

_This should be interesting, _I thought happily. _The formal Ministry of Magic's take on an 18-year-old Muggleborn witch. They'll get her all wrong. I mean, they'll probably write something like "I want to take over the world when I grow up!". _

I began to read.

"Dear Ginny," read the letter.

_Oh, very well done. How could they know she started her letters that way?_

"How are you? I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I can't tell you what I'm doing, though- unless you know already. Write and tell me to prove it if you think you know what I'm doing. Same goes for where Ron, Harry, and I are."

_Oh, bravo. Very suttle._

"Anyway, Ron, Harry, and I are managing being together 'round-the-clock very well. But Ron's a bit ticked at the moment, I finally told Harry I've liked him since first year, not Ron, and Ron is definitely not taking it as well as I'd hoped.

_Aha!_ BUSTED! _Hermione must have told me a dozen times or more that she likes Ron. Why would they even be so stupid as to put in a detail like that? They have no way of knowing they're right. Which is probably why they ended up not being right._

Then I reread the passage.

_At least they have the basic points of the typical 18-year-old witch (or any girl) down,_ I thought. _Guys, guys, and- guess what-guys. But what they don't know is that Hermione is really not a typical 18-year-old witch (or any girl)._

"I really hope we finish this stupid work soon. I'm so sick of this, and all I want is to come home and finish my seventh year at Hogwarts like a normal kid instead of the girlfriend (did I mention Harry said he liked me too?) of the guy who's caused the world's biggest manhunt.

_SHE'S! NOT! HIS! GIRLFRIEND! Idiots!!_

"I have to go now. We're really busy and nowhere near done, if you want to know the truth. Bye!

"Love,

"Hermione."

_Lies! Lies! All lies!_

As you can see, "Hermione's" letter got me fairly riled up. But there was good news.

Here's the postscript:

"P.S. Hey, Ginny, Tonks here, and this, as you might have guessed, is from the Ministry. The mark is all tiny in the corner of the envelope. See it? Yeah, that. My supervisor wrote this letter. He knew you'd all recognize my handwriting, and typing it would've been even more obvious than the very corny and unHermioneish letter. It's common knowledge that I'm a Weasley-friend (a.k.a. member of the Order of the Phoenix) turned Dark here at the Ministry. You're quite famous down here, you know. The biggest blood traitor family there is- in numbers and in firmness of beliefs. Whoops, gotta go. I think I hear someone coming. Bye! Oh, but first-" this part was nearly illegible, as Tonks had written in her haste to get the letter in the mail before whoever was coming caught her- "I might just stop by under the pretense of a followup on your 'case'. I just have to make sure the Minister trusts me enough to let me come alone. But I know I'm getting there."

I ran into the kitchen, where my mother was cooking tonight's dinner (spaghetti with fresh, homemade tomato sauce, meatballs, and parmesan cheese.

"OUR FRIEND TONKS IS COMING! OUR FRIEND TONKS IS COMING!" I yelled.

If I do say so myself, I make one heck of a Paul Revere.

**NOW I'll keep you, since you're done reading. There's a new poll in my profile. Here it is: If I wrote a sequel to this story, would you be interested in reading it? Please answer using the reviews or by going to my profile and voting in the real poll by Friday. By the way, the other poll was , "Should I post chapters once a day, or as soon as I finish them?" The winner was, "As soon as I finish them." When I posted it, I had several chapters in reserve, but by the time I took the poll off, as soon as I finish them and once a day were the same thing. **

**Anyway. Thanks for reading, but don't forget to follow it up by VOTING AND REVIEWING!!**


	31. Chapter 30

**Here's a nice, long chapter for you all! **

There wasn't much to do to prepare for Tonks' visit. We always cleaned up after ourselves now, because there was nothing better to do around here. And ever since we were put under house arrest, my mother had constantly been making food with the groceries some mysterious Ministry worker left on our doorstep each morning (when they said for no reason, they meant for … no … reason), whether we were expecting company or not. Which we hadn't been in much too long, until now.

It may not seem like a big deal to you- one family friend coming for a visit when in the past our home had been used as a headquarters for an organization that consisted of over a hundred people in all. But to us, it was huge. We'd been locked up together in the same house for a while now, and there was no end in sight.

We would've been prepared on a moment's notice (one good thing about being on house arrest, your house always seems to be ready for a visitor, absolutely spotless), but the next day, the paper Tonks sent us had a note scribbled on it saying she would be coming at lunchtime on the seventeenth of January, one week from the date on the paper with the note scribbled on it.

That week was the worst one. We were sort of in the Utter Boredom/Jumpy Relief transition phase right now, and knowing that we were about to have a Ministry worker in our home for illegal reasons (social gathering, how dare we?!) made us all even jumper. What if they found out? What if we were killed for this?

You know times are bad when you're afraid you'll be killed for having friends.

My point is, Tonks arrived on the seventeenth, around noon.

There was a knock on the door, and we all jumped a mile. The we took a moment to calm down before we remembered from our experiences so very long ago that you're supposed to actually _answer_ the door when someone knocks. We all leapt up to answer the door, but sat down again because we thought someone else would get it, since we'd all stood up. It was like some twisted version of jack-in-the-box.

"I'll get it," I announced, rolling my eyes.

"Tonks!" I cried as I opened the door.

"Ginny!" she cried back. She tried to hug me, but it was a bit difficult. She was already starting to get pretty big. But she still had her familiar bubblegum-pink hair and huge smile.

"Tonks, dear," said my mother warmly, holding her arms out wide and beaming maternally. She got a hug out of her somehow and then held her at arm's length and looked her up and down appraisingly for a very long time before finally announcing, "You look wonderful."

"At least you can't say I'm too thin," quipped Tonks.

"For being five months pregnant, you are! Come come, I whipped you up some soup, French onion, I know it's your favorite, come on, now, into the kitchen you go."

Tonks' feeble protests faded as my mother dragged her away from me and into the kitchen. My brothers, father, and I followed soon after.

My mother was dishing out a bowl of soup for Tonks.

"Eat it," she said as she walked over to Tonks. "You need nourishment! I insist. You must be starved, dear, just famished."

"Really Molly- I don't need …" she paused as Mum put the bowl of steaming French onion soup in front of her. "… more than one or two bowls," she finished with a grin.

My mother chuckled as we all came in. We all pulled our chairs out from the table and sat down with Tonks to have something to eat while my mother portioned out five more bowls of soup from the huge pot, which was still on the stove, steaming hot.

"Have you been sick much?" I asked Tonks.

Tonks shook her head.

"Not much," she answered, after swallowing a mouthful of scorching broth. "I just have to eat something before I get out of bed and start moving around. Lupin's been really helpful. I don't know what I would do without him." She smiled. "Plus, I do get a lot of extra points at work for being married to a werewolf. The Ministry of Magic used to be incredibly and injustly anti-werewolf."

"They were always very stereotypical about nonhuman and half-human beings," I agreed, remembering how Delores Umbridge had fired Hagrid all the quicker just because he was half-giant.

"But now that it's changed hands and therefore changed sides, to the side that all the nonhuman beings are actually on, we've actually been getting all kinds of benefits for being a werewolf family," Tonks told us.

"The Dark wizards and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will take anyone our side doesn't take first, especially the ones who think they've been treated unfairly by the Ministry in the past and are against all wizards on the side the Ministry was on at that point," my father put in.

"It's just amazing how things have changed," my mother said, blowing on her spoonful of soup.

"But Tonks," I said, turning to her just as she was about to take another bite, "don't you hate pretending to be on the side of the people who are causing all this suffering? The ones who want to hurt people like Hermione just because of who their parents are?"

Tonks nodded, putting down her spoon.

"But think about it this way," she suggested. "I'm pretending to be on their side so that I can help our side. And what I do isn't really important, anyway. It's not like I'm out killing Muggleborns while I'm at work and trying to figure out how to save their lives while I'm at home."

I nodded.

"That makes sense," I replied as she picked up her spoon again. "But what exactly can an Auror do that isn't important?"

She smiled and apparently gave up eating while holding a conversation before answering, "Well, like I said, It's nothing important. Mostly, I run the errands. I'm far from directly involved in the persecution of Muggleborns, but I actually do feel guilty all the time."

"Don't you worry they'll catch you-" he paused and then went on- "let's just say, 'pulling a Snape'?" asked Fred.

Tonks grinned and replied, "What is this, twenty questions? But yes, sometimes- but they haven't caught on to me yet, I'm not even sure they suspect me any more than they would suspect any former Order member who claimed to have changed sides with the Ministry. They're more clever than they seem, though. No one outside of the Minister's inner circle knows who that is except his most important and elite workers, and that group doesn't include me. I'm not very important. Those ones are the 'new Aurors'- a.k.a. the Death Eaters- the ones who do the hands-on stuff."

She shuddered.

We all ate and were quiet for a while, which is a sure sign that the food is good. I glanced at Tonks as I put my spoon to my mouth and noticed she was finished with her soup and was letting her eyes wander. They paused on my watch.

"Oh!" she cried, jumping up. "Potterwatch is on! Lupin's on today. Let's go!"

She hurried out of the room, calling, "Radio's in the sitting room, right?"

"Yeah," I replied slowly. "But what are you doing? What's Potterwatch?"

No answer came. My family and I looked at each other and shrugged. We hurried after Tonks to see what on Earth she was talking about.

By the time we arrived in the sitting room, Tonks had already sat down in front of the radio and was now holding it and murmuring to it, "Mad-Eye. Mad-Eye. Come on, you stupid thing, MAD-EYE!"

We all thought she was insane. We watched her with wide eyes for five more minutes. Suddenly she hit herself in the head.

"Of course!" she said. "That password's not from today, that's from- I don't even know when. Today's was … um … Granger?"

She stared at the radio.

"Granger," she said to it with confidence.

Static and a few words began coming through the radio. Tonks fiddled with the dials for a few seconds, her tongue peeking out of her mouth.  
"Welcome to Potterwatch!" cried Lee Jordan's voice.

The twins looked at each other excitedly. They'd been desperately missing their best friend since having to leave Hogwarts at Christmas.

"River here, listeners. Today we have a really good show planned for you all. We're introducing a new guest who will be on regularly as of today! And here he is … Romulus!"

"Thank you, River," said Lupin's voice.

Tonks lit up. Everyone smiled excitedly. We still had no idea what this was, but we liked it.

"I'm here to do a feature called 'Pals of Potter'. As a friend of Harry Potter, I'll try to tell you to the best of my ability why I think Harry is doing what he is doing at the moment- for instance, right now, staying completely out of the public news- and what I know is going on with the other friends of Harry Potter."

"Then why _do_ you think Harry's staying away from the public right now? There's no end to the controversy about this one. Do you think he's in hiding? Do you think he could be dead?"

"No," replied Lupin calmly. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named does enjoy a good gloat, and I'm sure that if Harry Potter had died for any reason, we would know about it within seconds.

"That being said, it eliminates that reason for Harry not being heard from at all in the past several months- since August, actually, where he was last seen at Bill and Fleur Weasley's wedding. I think that the reason for this is that he wants to keep fighting Voldemort, but he can't very well do it in public anymore, that's definite."

"Unquestionable," agreed Lee. "But what exactly do you think he's doing to fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters while he is in hiding?"

"Well-" Lupin hesitated, then admitted, "I can't very well say I know for sure, River. Last time I spoke with Harry- this was months ago, mind you- he had a mission he had been given and was not telling anyone- except, of course, his also much-talked-about best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is my belief that this mission would not end unless he killed Voldemort, and as we certainly know that hasn't happened, I would say he's more than likely still working on this mission."

"Fascinating. That's pretty big news," Lee said, obviously pleased. "Thank you very much, Romulus."

"Thank you very much for letting me be on the show, River," replied Lupin. "I really enjoyed it and definitely look forward to being a regular contributor."

"We're all looking forward to having you again, Romulus. And now, listeners, we have Stitch. This is our 'Back Home at Hogwarts' feature. Our regular listeners will know that we have a different student do this feature every week. Stitch is new to the show. Hey, Stitch."

"Hello," said Stitch.

"Seamus Finnigan?" I asked unsurely.

"Ya," replied Fred and George in unison.

"Well … here's the update. Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley, two beloved Hogwarts sixth-years, still have not returned. It was recently discovered that Luna was seen being taken from the train by Death Eaters on her way home for Christmas almost a month ago now. There are rumors that the Weasleys are under house arrest for having the ghoul that usually lives in their attic pretend to be their son Ron with spattergroit. We all miss them both."

"And is there anything you'd like to say to them if they're listening?" prompted Lee.

"Er- sure. Em, 'allo, girls. Neville's running the D.A. just fine. We're all doing great. Keep hanging in there," said Seamus awkwardly.

"Thank you, Stitch. Anything else to report about life at Hogwarts?"

"The Carrows get worse by the minute, River. However, that's because us D.A. members are really keeping them on their toes. Neville especially. He's gotten really brave and all."

There was an awkward pause.

"That's it," murmured Seamus.

"Thank you, Stitch," snorted Lee. "Now, for our daily general war report.

"During Stitch's report, I got some breaking news, listeners. This bulletin says that Harry Potter- yes, that's Harry Potter, the man with the lightning scar himself, as we at Potterwatch like to call him- was seen at Xenophilius Lovegood's home today along with Hermione Granger."

He paused.

"Ron Weasley was not spotted," he said quietly.

My mother began to cry.

"But remember, folks, these rumors go around all the time, we all know that. We at Potterwatch try our best only to report the truth, though, and this is … this is the latest. If the infamous Weasleys are listening tonight, the message we at Potterwatch would like to give them is that we're sure he's fine."

"Wait, I am getting more as we speak!" cried Lee.

There was a pause.

"This says that Xenophilius Lovegood claims that all three were at his house earlier today."

"Now, that's all for today, everyone. The next password is 'Gryffindor', everyone. A big huge thank-you for listening goes out to all you folks tonight and we hope you'll tune in again sometime soon. Thank you."

My mother was just sniffling now.

"Oh, Molly," said Tonks, sounding desperately sorry.

"I really didn't know anything about that or that they would have information on him on there tonight. I'm really sorry. It's- it's best if I go. Goodbye, everyone."

She walked out of the room and out of the house, leaving our family to sit in stunned silence.

**It really would be better if we hadn't all read the seventh book and didn't already know that he isn't dead ... Anyway, remember, VOTE in my poll (reviews or real poll, located in my profile) and REVIEW to encourage me to write more nice, long chapters like this for you all! Thanks for reading!**


	32. Chapter 31

**Very short. I was gonna put this all in one chapter, but I really ran out of time and I thought you guys deserved better than two chapterless days in a row!**

The next month or so was really, really hard. We trusted what Potterwatch said and what the Death Eaters saw more than we trusted that zany Xenophilius Lovegood. Which makes sense. So anyway, because of this, we were convinced Ron was dead. Convinced. We still couldn't write to Harry and Hermione about this, because it would put all my family and them in danger, but we knew it anyway. My mother cried all the time. My dad got very solemn and talked a lot less. Even the twins were stunned into an almost complete silence.

Me? I was sad, but I didn't let it show. I had to be strong. For my family. For Harry.

For Ron.

My dad's birthday came around on February 6, same as always. It was odd, something actually being the same as usual. It seemed wrong. Out of place. Birthdays no longer made sense during this war. Nothing cheerful did.

But we tried to celebrate anyway. Tonks' spotless report of our case had raised the question of her opinion's validity when it came to this particular problem. So Kingsley, who had also claimed to have switched to the side of the Death Eaters while he was at work, but was not a known former Order member, volunteered to escort her for another look around and to monitor her actions towards the arrestees (my family).

Of course, it just happened to be on my dad's birthday that he suggested this third evaluation take place.

Kingsley and Tonks arrived at our house around seven. Tonks was even bigger, of course, almost in her third trimester now.

"Hey, guys!" she cried as I opened the door, with my brothers behind me. She opened her arms for a hug, that huge everlasting smile, as usual, on her face, which was still framed by bright pink hair.

"Oh, Tonks, it's so great to see you," I told her. "It's been really hard. Mom won't stop crying."

Tonks sighed and patted my back as Kingsley greeted the twins.

"I know, Ginny," she replied. "I know." She smiled sadly. "But every war has to end sometime, right? So let's everybody turn our frowns upside-down and go give Molly something to smile about, eh?"

She gave us a sigh and another sad smile.

"Look, guys, I know this is a really hard time for you, but I can promise you it's a lot worse for your mother. Let's all try to be cheerful for her tonight. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay," I agreed.

"All right," added the twins.

"How are you two, anyway?" Tonks asked, trying to turn the conversation more chipper as we walked through the hallway and back to the kitchen.

"Good," replied George, "or as good as you can be while on house arrest, anyway."

"Yeah," said Tonks cautiously, throwing him a warning look as we reached the kitchen. "But not that bad, right?"

"Nah," said Fred quickly, glaring at George and then glancing at Mum, who was staring at a self-stirring pot of bernese sauce to go with tonight's filet with red and puffy eyes.

"Hi, Molly!" Tonks greeted her.

"Hey, Molly," said Kingsley.

"Hello, Tonks, dear," Mum said, with a quivery sort of smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, much better. Over my morning sickness now, just waiting," she answered with a smile.  
My mother murmured rather absentmindedly, "That's good," and, looking completely miserable, turned back to her bernese.

"Would you come with me for a second, Molly?" asked Tonks. She looked worried.

"But the sauce-" began my mother.

"Is in a pot that is called self-stirring for a reason," interrupted Tonks firmly. "Please, Molly."

"All right, then," replied my mother halfheartedly. Everything she did seemed to be halfhearted these days.

Tonks and Mum left for the sitting room, and us kids followed, always around the last corner or bend, not letting them know we were there. But as soon as we heard the door shut, we ran on tiptoe straight to it to put our ears against it. We weren't about to miss a second of this.

"Molly," Tonks said. "Ron might not even be dead."

With this, we heard my mother cry louder than ever before. We couldn't hear through her sobs _and_ the door, so we only caught a few words.

"…failed my children," she sobbed. "…should've made him tell me …," then soon after, "…all my fault …"

Tonks seemed to have been prepared for exactly this, luckily.

"No, Molly," she said. I was startled. I had never heard her voice sound so strong-firm-commanding. "It is not your fault. I will not let you blame yourself. I won't."

"But-"

"No," said Tonks again. "It is not your fault. I don't think anything in the word could've made those kids tell you what they were doing. They weren't about to betray Dumbledore, they didn't want to risk you not letting them go … wherever they went, and they definitely were not about to betray each other. There was nothing you could do!"

"I could've made them, I know I could!" protested my mother.

"Here's the thing, Molly," said Tonks, gently now. "Ron might be your youngest son- yes, be, not have been- but that doesn't mean he's a baby. Not anymore. All of your sons are men now. Even Ginny will be of age soon, and then all your children will be legal adults. They're really not children anymore. And you can't always get your kids to do what they want when they're really not kids anymore."

There was a long pause.

"I-I suppose you're right," Mum replied slowly. "I guess- I guess it wasn't my fault after all."

"That's it, Molly," said Tonks. "Now you understand! Good."

We sensed the conversation coming to an end and hurried from the door to the kitchen just in time.

My mother came back in to the kitchen after her long talk with Tonks looking considerably better. Well, she looked like she was in a better mood currently, but you could definitely tell she'd been in a bad one recently, because her face was still bright red with tears. She actually held a conversation with us while we waited for dinner, though. She even took her mind off of Ron long enough to hold a discussion about work with Kingsley.

Now all we had to do was get through dinner.


	33. Chapter 32

**I made it! I did put a chapter up "today"! Even if it's 11! Not the longest chapter, but it's Friday. I don't like to do anything on Friday. Plus, it's not the shortest, either. Just be happy and expect a longer chapter tomorrow- or, by the time you read this, probably later today.**

No, it really wasn't that bad. I'm just being dramatic. Kingsley being the one we hadn't seen for the longest amount of time, he was also the one who dominated the conversation- though not by his own free will. He got the third degree, just like Tonks had when she'd first visited us last month. It's only fair to torture everyone equally.

We sat down to a dinner of filet with bernese sauce, twice-baked potatoes, and broccoli soaked in soy sauce and sesame seeds (it's actually good that way). My father sat at the head of the table in a chair with balloons on the back. He was turning fifty-some. I wasn't quite sure how old. I just knew that his age was too high for my mom to put that many candles on his birthday cake. That's when you know you're old.

As we all sat down, my mother walked around the table pouring wine into all our glasses. When she had reached her own, she poured a glass for herself, took her seat, held up her glass, and announced, "To Arthur!"

"To Dad!" Fred, George, and I cried.

"To Arthur!" called Mum, Tonks, and Kingsley.

"Thank you, everyone!" said my dad happily. "Thank you for the toast and thank you all for being here tonight. It means a lot to me. Now, this entire meal looks just fantastic, thanks to my even more fantastic wife Molly, so let's dig in without any more of this talk!"

Everyone picked up their forks and attacked the massive amounts of food on their plates by way of a response.

"So what do you do, Kingsley?" I asked.

"I was getting to be very important to the Ministry, but I didn't want to be the direct cause of all these Muggleborns and Muggles being killed, so I asked for a demotion. I'm now in the department in charge of keeping the magical animals under control. Keeping the dragons in hiding, keeping the Muggles from detecting other magical animals like Knifflers … things like that. It's not a department that has a lot to do right now. I'm the Head of that department, actually. But even the Head doesn't have a lot to do there."

I laughed. "Sounds pretty … boring."

"I know," replied Kingsley. "But the good thing is, if you don't show up, hardly anyone even notices, y'know? So if I'm bored, I … leave!"

"Wow," I replied. "You're lucky."

"Maybe if we had used that method when we got bored of our education …" suggested Fred.

"No," replied my mother firmly, but she was smiling and chuckled along with everyone else. She was totally changed. It was amazing.

"So how long are we betting on for this war?" she asked after her third glass of wine.

"Two weeks," replied Tonks, who'd exchanged her glass of wine for one of water because she was pregnant, but had caught the spirit of the occasion anyway.

"Less than a year," replied Kingsley. "More than a month, but less than a year."

"That makes sense enough," answered George. "It's gotta end sometime, and our man Harry's been workin' for a while now." Everyone murmured their agreement.

"Voldemort can't last a year with Harry hunting him," I agreed, allowing myself to smile at the thought of the war ending and everyone being together again. There was just one nagging worry, that he might not- no. Never mind. I couldn't even let myself think it. But even if he did, what if he didn't want to- no! I had to stop thinking these things.

By the time I was paying attention to my surroundings again, the conversation had veered slightly away from Harry- because some of the only things that we could say about Harry right now, hardly knowing a thing about where he was or what he was doing, had to do with Ron, because one thing we did know was who he was with … or so we hoped.

"Some of these people … I just don't understand how they became Death Eaters!" commented Kingsley. "They seem really nice. They don't seem to even be that rude or cruel enough to want to put people through this. I don't know, maybe they don't, but they put them through it anyway, and that makes them just as bad as the people who want to. The people who stand by and just try to lay low and not get killed, but don't fight for either side, are almost as bad."

"I agree," said my mother. "It's been hard, not being able to do anything because we're on house arrest. It's been very hard."

"Some people don't seem to find it that way," joked my father heavily.

"People are just too afraid to help. They don't realize that they're not going to be safe no matter what. They're just a bunch of ninnies," growled Tonks angrily.

"Now, now. Not all of them. A lot of them are in situations like ours," my father reminded her.

"Not really," Tonks spat. "None of the other Order members are under house arrest, and no one who's not in the Order is fighting. Well," she added, "except the teenagers in Dumbledore's Army, and that just tells you something, doesn't it, now?"

"Calm down, Tonks. What he meant is, a lot of people are on house arrest, but otherwise would be supporting or joining the Order in some way," my mother put in.

"I'm with Tonks. The world are cowards," I sighed dramatically.

"That's the ticket, Ginny," grinned Tonks, slapping me five. My parents just stared at us.

"Ignoring that odd behavior," said my father slowly, "I would like to know what the latest is at the Ministry."

"Okay," agreed Tonks. "Here's the deal. Absolutely nothing is going on. The Order hasn't been able to do anything lately with you guys gone and all- we have no headquarters and it's dangerous besides- so it's been terribly and sickeningly calm in the part of the Auror department that deals with work against Voldemort. That is pretty much the only part of the Ministry that you don't want to see having a slow day. Now, the part that deals with the killing of unregistered Muggleborns, that you want to see quiet. But not the one that deals with revolts …"

"This bites. I mean, can't someone else take over for the Order? Do something minor? So we take a break for a couple months, and there's absolutely no one else doing anything about this?" I cried. Now I had gotten just as worked up as Tonks.

"No one," said Tonks carefully, "except Harry."

"Have you been seeing signs of them doing whatever they're supposed to be doing then?" I asked excitedly. Everyone leaned in to hear what Tonks' answer would be.

"No, no, no," she said, shaking her head. "I just meant that you can trust that he's still out there. He's not dead. I know that for sure. And because we know he's not dead, we know he's fighting. That's one thing about Harry Potter. As surely as you know he's alive, you know he's fighting. He's a great, man, that one, Ginny," she said, winking.

I blushed. "Yeah, well-" I began, but my mother cut me off, ignoring Tonks' hidden comment and trying to put in her two cents about what Tonks had said.

"It's true," said Mum, smiling. "I'm sure he's fighting, and with someone like Harry fighting, Kingsley's right. It'll be over in less than a year."

"Of course," answered Tonks. "I say it'll be over before we know it."

"I wouldn't say that, considering every second takes an hour to go by anymore," I commented.

The corners of Tonks' mouth twitched before she said, "I'm sure it does … you guys must be bored silly after so long stuck in your house."

I glanced at her suspiciously. When she thought no one was looking, she allowed herself a secret smile. Hmm. Something was up.

By the time everyone had finished dinner, it was eight, and my mother announced that we should get on with my father's presents. As usual, he said he was too old to be opening presents and having birthday parties, but no one ever listened, and we made him stay in his chair at the head of the table as we brought in his bag of presents.

"They're all homemade," my mother reminded him nervously, "as I haven't exactly been able to go shopping … I do hope you like them all, dear."

"Don't worry, love, I'm sure I will," my father assured her, looking at her fondly. Then he opened all our presents. We got him miscellaneous things, lame things, really. There wasn't much choice when we were stuck in home. I think the main attraction that year was a photo album. But the real present came from Tonks and Kingsley.

"This is a present from both of us," said Tonks. She came up to my father holding out the present and biting her lip like a child. She didn't look worried as to whether he would like it, she just looked like if she didn't bite her lip she would blurt out what the present was right then and there. I wondered why I hadn't noticed them walking in with a package, then saw how small it was. That devious woman must have put it on top of her stomach. No one would notice, there was a bunch of slack there. How clever. But why would she go so far to hide something that small? What was it?

My father seemed to be thinking the same thing. He looked confusedly at Tonks and Kingsley as he took his time deliberately opening the present without ripping the simple brown and unpatterned paper it had been buried in.

"What's this …?" he asked.

Then he stopped. He put his hand on his heart.

"Oh my God!" I yelled as I ran up behind him. The tears were streaming down my face. I was jumping up and down and screaming.

My mother saw what it was and gasped. She began clapping and crying.

"All RIGHT!" my brothers yelled estatically, slamming their hands together.

"Thank you … so much," said my father quietly.

Tonks and Kingsley were estatic right along with us.

Oh, you say you want to know what it was? Sorry! It was a paper … that said we were called to a hearing on the eleventh, and that our case was being reconsidered in front of a different judge and a different jury!

It was a whole new chance. A new chance to fight, a new chance to live, and a new chance to end this thing.

This went way further than just not having to be together twenty-four seven. This meant way more than being able to go play some Quidditch outside. This meant way more than just having some space, some freedom.

This meant war.


	34. Chapter 33

**You asked for a longer chapter, so here it is! Hope it's long enough!**

That week went by in a second.

We had been almost over thinking Ron was dead, but now that Mum was back to normal, we were fine. We were all convinced that he was just hidden for some reason at that point. Having my Mum back made the week go all the faster.

The thing that really helped, though, was that daze of joy. Finally! Finally, we could make a difference and do all those things we'd had way too much time to plan while we were stuck in this stupid house. It was about time we got to do something. Every prisoner's gotta be released at some point, and if it's … well … while they're still alive, then most of 'em are gonna go right back out there and do that same old thing all over again until they get imprisoned once more. That's what we planned to do. Keeping us cooped up in this house had been a dumb move. It only gave us more time to plot and dream about what we would do when we got out, and now that we were going to, look out, Britain- the Weasleys were free and ready for action. I would get to go back to Hogwarts! I was looking forward to seeing Neville, Luna … maybe even Lavender and Cho! Even homework didn't sound all that bad. Going back to Hogwarts made up for all the things I used to complain about when I was lucky enough to there. Professor McGonagall would seem saintly kind after this. Nothing could spoil my return to school! Nothing! All this made me walk around in a bubble of pure bliss all week.

Then, it was the day of the hearing. We were up and about by six, but we didn't have to be at the Ministry until nine o'clock. Therefore, we were all very well-fed and looking absolutely spectacular by the time we left the house. Might as well show them that were no lowlives like they tried to claim anyone who wasn't on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's side was. No one would believe the family who set out in the nice suits and the ironed dresses that morning was going to a hearing to try and get their arrest lifted, because no one would believe that they'd ever been arrested in the first place. Not that the Ministry cared about appearance. They always based their judgements on what was on the inside. Yeah. Your blood.

We arrived at the Ministry half an hour early, but, as Tonks had said, things had been quiet around here, and I don't think they had any other cases that day, so they were ready for us.

"Remember," my father muttered to my brothers and I, just as he had before we left the house and when we had first arrived at the Ministry, "not a word unless you are directly asked a question by the judge or one of the jury." He turned to me in particular and added, "Do you hear me, Ginevra? Not. A. Word."

"Fine," I muttered, pretending to be offended, but knowing that he really did have to remind me of this if he didn't want me to make a sarcastic comment the first time they started dissing our family and friends. Or possibly leap out of my chair and go for physical contact. (They'd taken our wands away at the front desk when we had signed in for the hearing, otherwise this could've gotten interesting.)

We entered the coutroom escorted by Dementors. I had to fight the depression they brought with them mentally, because I knew that conjuring my Patronus would only attract attention to me as a strong and able witch, and right now I thought that it was probably my best bet to look weak and as though I wouldn't be able to ward off a fly, let alone Voldemort and all his Death Eaters. Plus, I didn't have a wand in the first place. There was that, too.

I glanced around and saw a few familiar faces, like Delores Umbridge, my repulsively fake-sweet Defense against the Dark Arts teacher back in fourth year, and …_Wait! _I thought._ Is that Tonks?! Tonks?! Tonks is on the jury! How'd she manage to pull that one off? Hang on a minute- so's Kingsley! Kingley's on the jury too! Wow! We might have a chance of winning this thing now!_

I fought the urge to wave or in any way acknowledge Tonks and Kingsley as I took my seat in the middle of the courtroom and waited for the hearing to begin as I thought of all the things I would do when I got back home.

They went through a bunch of beginning legal procedures before starting the actual hearing. I tuned out during these, and by the time I was back with the rest of the world, the questioning had begun.

"Did you or did you not have a magical being impersonate your youngest son with spattergroit?" the judge asked.

"We did," replied Dad. He had told us before he left that we were to be nothing but honest. Well- almost nothing. "That was because we didn't know where he was and were embarrassed to admit he had run away from home."

The judge bought it, and continued, "And who else was he with when he ran away from home?"

"We don't know," replied my father. "Otherwise we would've tried to contact him through them- obviously he won't pay any attention to any means of contact we try to use to reach him himself, if he wanted to talk to us he wouldn't run away from home, clearly- and besides, we couldn't send messages to anyone he might be with anyway, we're still under arrest at the moment."

"Yes," growled the judge, "you are, which is why it would be wise if you would answer the question I ask and only the question I ask! Now! Who was he with?"

"We don't know!" repeated my father.

"Very well," said the judge. "Then I have to go on to the matter of lies in court. Was that the only reason you had the ghoul impersonate your son? Or were you lying when you said that was the only reason? 'Fess up now, you won't be in trouble. Don't 'fess up, and we find out you're lying- now, _that_ could get you in trouble. We would have a bit of a sticky situation on our hands, now, wouldn't we?"

"Hang on now," said my father nervously. "I never said that was the only reason. Now, you know as well as we do that Harry Potter and our son Ron were very good friends. You know as well as we do that they could or could not have left together, and while we don't know that for sure ourselves, we thought you wouldn't look kindly on that and didn't feel that we should tell you that he had run away, because we knew you would figure out like we did that he could be with Harry Potter."

"You are aware that Harry Potter is Undesirable Number One?" the judge asked.

"Yes," said my father reluctantly, "it's why we didn't want to mention anything to the Ministry if it might have to do with him."

"Smart," muttered the judge.

"But you don't know for sure that he's run away with Undesirable Number One?"

"No," enunciated my father firmly, telling a flat-out lie. "Any information that we hear about them both is as much news to us as it is to you."

That part was far too true.

"Very well," said the judge. "Jury, make your decisions."

There was a pause of a full five minutes. I stayed as still as possible, trying to look sweet and innocent to these people as, in my mind, I plotted my next rebellion against them. Tonks and Kingsley did a fairly good job of pretending to be deciding how to vote, scrunching up their foreheads and looking like they were considering this as deeply as everyone else. It was a very long five minutes, looking up at the people who would decided my fate, and, essentially, theirs. They might just be creating their own worst enemy, the same way Voldemort had with Harry. Do these people never learn? Honestly.

The judge cleared his throat and said loudly, "Jury! You should have made your decisions by now. We will now take a vote. All in favor of keeping all charges and leaving these people under house arrest on the charge of fraud, please raise your hands now."

Far too many people for my liking raised their hands. A young man next to the judge's stand took some notes in a little booklet and looked back up at the judge, who ignored him.

"All in favor of dropping all charges and releasing these people from their house arrest sentence, please raise your hands now," said the judge solemnly.

It was too close to call between last time's count and this time's. This made me nervous, and I felt absolutely sick as I watched the judge turn and lean down to the man below the stand to murmur something to him. The man said something back, and the judge sat up straight, looking triumphant.

"It is a tie!" he called out. "Therefore, these people will be put on probation." He looked at us. "You may go around your village of Ottery St. Catchpole, you may have visitors, and you may feel free to live your normal lives. However," he said to the four next to me, "you may not go back to work. And you," he turned to me, and my heart froze up with the worst kind of horror and suspense as I waited until he said, "may not go back to school."

I hung my head. This was all wrong, all completely wrong! No, no, no! Everything was supposed to be perfect. I was supposed to go back to school, everyone else was supposed to go back to work, my mother was supposed to go back to cleaning the house and writing half a dozen times a day to all of us when we weren't home, and in a few months, Harry, Ron, and Hermione would come home so we could all be together by Easter! But now not a single one of those things seemed likely to happen, even them coming home this spring, which really had nothing to do with whether or not we were on house arrest.

I sighed quietly as the judge went on with more rules and regulations, taking away more of the freedom I still thought I would have while on probation with every word. Voldemort had won again, even though he was probably off on a murder parade in some place I'd never heard of and didn't even know that his worst enemy's closest thing to family had just been denied again the chance to help him. But still, it was a win for him in theory. This whole war was because of him, wasn't it? And us being arrested had had everything to do with the war, hadn't it?

Why did things have to be this way? I had no idea. I wondered sadly as the judge dismissed the court and we left the splendor and horror of the courtroom behind. We had only been outside the courtroom about five seconds before strong arms pulled us all into a dark, empty hallway. I started to scream as a natural reaction, but a soft hand clamped over my mouth.

"Shh!" cried Tonks.

"They can't know we're here," said Kingsley's voice, hushed and unplaceable in the darkness.

"We're so sorry," said Tonks, putting her arms around me. "We tried to get everyone to vote for you to be released, really we did. We told all our friends and everyone who knows whose side we're really on or who wouldn't just go tattling to the Minister and get us caught. But it looks like it just wasn't quite enough." She looked at Kingsley. "If only we had gotten those other ones from that department …"

"You tried your best," replied my father, "and we couldn't ask for more than that, Tonks. It'll be all right. We can use the Burrow as the Order's headquarters again. It'll be fine. We can get fresh air … a little more space …"

"But not a lot more space," Tonks reminded him. "And that's just it. We wanted to give you the space to fight, to help us again. But now you still won't be able to do anything about the war. You can't leave Ottery St. Catchpole."

"Tonks," I said condescendingly, "do you know what 'probation' means?"

"Yes," she said, turned off by my tone, and my mother said, "Don't use that tone with her, young lady! You are being very rude."

"Sorry," I said, "but I wasn't trying to be. I'm trying to say, probation means they take the trackers out of your house. They're probably doing that right now. They don't know I figured out they were there in the first place. But anyway, they just check on you themselves occasionally. And we'll be home most of the time, won't we? We can still do it!"

Tonks didn't look convinced. "I donnou," she said. "It's awfully dangerous to do something like that anymore, Ginny. Are you sure you're willing to risk it all- and I do mean quite possibly all- for something that might not end up making any difference in the war at all?"

"Oh, it will," I said confidently. "I know it will."

**Enjoy it? Tell me so! Review!**


	35. Chapter 34

**Sorry there was no chapter yesterday. It's too long of a story to tell here. But you have a chapter to read today, anyway, so go ahead and read it.**

We got home about fifteen minutes later. It was only about nine-thirty in the morning, but I didn't end up going in the house until long past dark, almost twelve hours later. The exact same moment that we got home, my mum was inside, grabbing some burgers four an outdoor picnic lunch. She brought the salt and the condiments outside with her and prepared our whole meal outdoors. Then our father cooked the burgers on the Muggle grill he'd gotten last Christmas and pounced on the opportunity to use whenever possible. It wa slike a dream come true for him. Anyway, the entire time my parents were cooking and getting the food ready, we were all laughing and talking. We were loud and boisterous, but we didn't care at all. My mother didn't tell us to hush once, because she was just as euphoric as we were, and therefore just as noisy- a major first for her.

"Things are going to change," Mum foretold as we were all making outrageous predictions for the next year and sipping some celebratory firewhisky. "I can tell. Sure, he's been in power for three years now, and many more than that the first time, before he first got … damaged … by Harry somehow, but he's never had Ron, Hermione, and Harry trying to kill him for more than a day before now. They're really extraordinary children, you know." By this time we were used to Mum (and all the rest of us, for that matter) saying Ron's name again. We had driven the very real possibility that Ron was dead almost completely out of our minds before _it_ could drive _us_ out of our minds. We had also decided by silent agreement that Harry, Ron, and Hermione could only be trying to kill Voldemort and so it was socially accepted inside our home and only inside our home to acknowledge this fact. My father, however, still managed to find a reason to comment on my mother's statement, even though mentioning Ron didn't warrant a remark anymore.

"Molly," my father gently reminded her, "they're not children." He was trying to get my mother used to not calling us children a bit in advance, since technically I still was a child, but so far it wasn't going so well. It was basically her most-used vocabulary word. At this rate, my brothers and I would be the first-ever fifty-year-old "children".

"I know, I know," she replied, sounding just a little depressed about this. She was a very motherly type, as you might have noticed, and I don't think she really knew what she would do when her kids were all out of school and living on their own. Probably visit us. A lot. And wait for grandchildren. Oh, but that shouldn't take long. If you asked me, Fleur was looking a little chubby ... even though she never ate ... hmm ... that was weird ... highly suspicious, if you ask me. I know, I know, "No one did." Too bad.

"But anyway, you're right, Mum," I said, trying to change the subject. "He hasn't had them chasing after him full-time before now, and he won't know what hit him when they find him, that's for sure. He doesn't know what he's in for." _…but they don't know what they're in for, either_, I added silently to myself._ They're only teenagers!_ Then I swallowed. _Oh, God. I sound like my mother._

A little while later, we had an absolutely delicious early lunch of burgers, fries, and those tomatoes with the cheese on top, and every dish was all the better for being eaten outside on the lawn on a picnic blanket. Everything tastes better outside- or at least after two months in indoor captivity. Probably not if you're trapped in the desert or freezing on the Tundra or something. But anyway. Let's get back to the food and the lunch, shall we? Let's. So ... where was I ... oh. The conversation was mostly light during lunch.

"What could we do tonight?" I asked through a mouthful of burger, onion, cheese, and sesame seed-covered bun. "How about we find a way to celebrate?"

"Well, of course," agreed my father, "but how do you kids want to celebrate?"

"I dunnou …" said George, and the conversation gradually moved away from the topic for now.

For lunch-dessert, we started a fire in the yard using magic, but then, when we roasted our s'mores, used the Muggle method. We did it that way so that they would get a good smoky flavor, the flavor of camping and being outside. At the moment, we just couldn't get enough of anything outdoors. Normally, I was a very modern-conveniences-all-the-way type of girl. Not outdoorsy at all. But for now, being out in the open air was pure magic (of the natural variety), and my favorite thing in the world.

"Why does it feel so much better to be outside today than it ever did before?" I asked absentmindedly as I slowly rotated the stick I was using to roast my fifth or sixth marshmallow.

"Because humans want what they can't have," replied my father. "It's how we are. It's evolution. Basically, it's human nature to always wish for something they don't have or which it is very hard for them to get."

"Amen," replied Fred heartily. "For instance, I really wish we had some pickles right now. Anyone want to go get some?"

After lunch and lunch-dessert were both over, Fred, George, and I raced to the orchard not far from our house to play Quidditch, our broomsticks in our hands and the biggest grins you've ever seen on our faces. It's very hard to play Quidditch with three people, I'll tell you that, but I knew we'd manage on as wonderful a day as that one.

"Go!" shouted George, as the three of us were sitting on our broomsticks in the field, ready to kick off.

I slammed my feet into the ground as high as I could and felt myself racing into the air. I put my head back and closed my eyes, feeling the wind rushing past me in all directions. Soon I was shrieking with laughter in delight. As it whipped past my face and through my hair, pulling it back sharply, that cold, crisp February air had never, ever felt so good as it did right then, and I knew it never would again. I could sense freedom in the air, and that was half my thrill. I knew it was more than just freedom from my family's house arrest. Much more. Because along with the feeling of freedom in the air came a feeling of change. It was a sad feeling, but wildly exhilarating, and joyful, too. Incredibly joyful.

You must be thinking, _She's nuts! Absolutely nuts. _And maybe I was … but who cares?

So we played our Quidditch game for a little while, the twins against me. I'm a better player, of course, being me, but they won, obviously. I mean, they're older and there are two of them. Really. They had only convinced me to have the teams this way because they had played the "but you always say we're like one person sometimes" thing. Why, oh why, pray tell, had I fallen for that? I had grown up with six brothers, after all! You would think I'd have learned better than to trust any of them by now!

Anyway, it was 70-210, they caught the Snitch. I thought they were just fooling around as usual, and then, all of a sudden, they had won!

But that's not really important, now, is it? Oh, wait … yes it is … I hate losing … (sighs)

But anyway, moving on, then we went back to the picnic blanket with my parents, who had been watching the game, for some random leftovers from the fridge as our early dinner. We were just talking again. The conversation turned to what we could do for the Order now that we were able to help again. It got pretty wild. The things we were saying we could do were pretty insane, especially the closer we got to emptying the tub of butterbeers my father had brought out.

Then we went into town to discuss Voldemort and the latest news regarding the war with some of our neighbors. Now, you might say, "Why?" And would you like to know why? Of course you would. We did it because we could! That's why! We were just rejoicing in our freedom. We said that a lot that night- "because we can!"

It was very fun.We talked with Tonks, for one (we invited her down to our town to hang out for a while), as well as that old Mrs. Arabella Figg, I think it is. She lives down Harry's way, but she comes up here for the pubs. I know, you never would've thought it of the old lady! But man, she knows how to hog the karaoke in there! Definitely a clubber in her younger days.

We spent awhile there, and the topic turned once again to what we could do for the Order now that we were off of probation.

"We could, like …" I had run out of things to say a few hours after arriving at the pub with Tonks and my family. We had had an early dinner, more of a second lunch or a snack, really, and it was still only about five.

"Hmm … Instead of thinking about these things that we could do to help in the war, how about we try again to think of things we could do tonight to celebrate our release from house arrest?" suggested my father, smiling.

"Good idea!" my mother agreed. I just blinked. No one had cared when I said it!

"How about we invite the Order of the Phoenix over for a little shindig?" suggested Fred, grabbing George and pretending to start a conga line with him.

Everyone laughed, but afterwards my mother was silent for a moment, looking thoughtful, then said, "You know, that's not such a bad idea, really …"

"I think it would be awesome," I put in.

"Let's do it!" shouted Fred and George.

My mother glanced at my father, who shrugged and said, "I don't see why not!"

"YEAH!" my brothers and I shouted.

"We're havin' a parrr-ty, we're havin' a parrr-ty," the twins sang, dancing around the pub as my father and mother discussed who to invite to this "parrr-ty" we were about to have.

"Wow. We sure don't have any signs of having been confined in one home and separated from humanity for over a month," I commented dryly as I saw how excited the twins were getting at the prospect of having a few friends over. No one was listening when I made my little comment, but I snickered to myself. I do crack myself up sometimes.

We went home to prepare. My mother rushed frantically around the kitchen preparing all sorts of food items while out in the yard my father was busy inviting our lucky guests.

My father shot at least a dozen Patronuses out of his wand, all headed off to other members of the Order to invite them to our little get-together. Soon enough, there were just as many Patronuses coming back at him, and each was a different animal. I didn't even recognize whose they all were as I watched them fly into the afternoon sky. But they all were carrying messages saying that their owners were coming to the party. I smiled as I heard laughter and feet from Order members already approaching the Burrow from a distance.

This made a great end to our house arrest.

**PLEASE review!! I know it wasn't that long, but it didn't cover that long of a time period.**


	36. Chapter 35

**Hello!! I'm back!! Sorry. I was kind of unmotivated for a while, but I watched RENT last night, and, for who-knows-what reason, it inspired me to write again. Speaking of RENT and writing ... big news! **

**My two good author friends (Cicily B and ForbiddenMemory) and I will be working together on a RENT fanfiction starting two days from now. It is called "Broken Chorus" and will be by the penname TheTangoSel. Any RENT fans out there, look it up and take a read!**

One hour later, there was music blaring, people laughing, and the mouthwatering scent of my mother's cooking everywhere. I myself was talking with Lupin, who I had missed terribly in the past couple of months. He was telling me about how the Ministry didn't make him work with the werewolves anymore, since it had changed sides, and how they were now permitting him to be unemployed. They thought he was, but he was working hard with the Order, so much so that it was basically a full-time job. My mom and dad had, having been the host and hostess for all Order members because they were the owners of the headquarters, had been very important and maybe even the heads of the Order before we were put under arrest. Now, Lupin and Kingsley were the head honchos around the Order. There was no real headquarters, but they'd been meeting in different places. It all attracted less attention that way, anyway.

As Lupin told me of his and Kinglsey's latest antics, I smiled, not one hundred percent focused, and glanced towards where my mother and Tonks were laughing and talking, taking long drinks from their glasses. I wanted to give Tonks the letter I had written when I thought I might never get to see her again, because I had forgotten every time she'd been over to our house so far, but she looked like she was having a good time right now. After all, hadn't I always been taught that it was rude to interrupt?

"Yeah," I murmured distractedly to Lupin at what seemed the right time. I nodded every once in a while, but allowed my mind and eyes to wander through the party. I could easily spot Mundungus Fletcher, which wasn't exactly pleasant, as he looked fairly ... well ... downright filthy and repulsive, if you want to know the truth. I saw my parents, of course ... there were the twins ... and ... wait ... Hagrid! Bill! Fleur! They were all here!

Lupin noticed that I was distracted and followed my gaze, calling, "Oh, hello, Hagrid! How are you?"

He nodded to my brothers and began talking to Hagrid.

"Yes, I'm fine, Tonks and I are doing well ... no, no, she's not ill, right over there actually ..."

Since Hagrid appeared to be taken for the moment, I hurried to greet Bill and Fleur.

"Hey, Bill!" I cried, hugging him.

"Hey, li'l sis," he answered happily, scooping me into a big bear hug.

"'Allo, Ginny," said Fleur sniffily. She knew I didn't favor her much.

"'A-Er, hi, Fleur," I said, embarassed. I had wanted not to let anything spoil tonight, but I was getting off on the wrong foot with Fleur already, and I hadn't even finished saying hello. Just my luck.

My brother looked at me sternly as Fleur tried to overlook my blunder and told me airily, "You are looking vell."

"And you as well," I replied corteously. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think Lupin's finished saying hullo to Hagrid and I think I'll go see how he is."

"Okay, but be careful. The Ministry could find out about this and come around at any time," said my overcautious and highly paranoid brother.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered audibly as I walked away.

"Hagrid!" I cried as I came near him.

Hagrid finished pouring his glass of firewhisky before he turned around.

"Ginny!" he cried delightedly when he finally did. "So grea' ter see ya, been worried sick, y'know ... Fang misses yer somethin' terrible."

I smiled and answered, "I've been worrying about you guys back at Hogwarts, too. I want to come back to school so bad! But I don't think I can. Not this year, anyway. Maybe by the end of the summer and the start of next term things will've calmed down. I hope so."

"That'd be somethin'," replied Hagrid mildly. "Sometimes it don' seem like this war's ever gon' end, though!"

"I know what you mean," I answered gloomily. "But it's got to ... hasn't it?"

I looked imploringly at him, seeking to be reassured, and he delivered by replying guiltily, "Oh, o' course it's gotta, I didn't mean tha' ..."

"It's all right," I said, smiling. "I'm fine ... I just worry sometimes."

"We all do," replied Hagrid earnestly. "It's a har' job for those three, but if anyone can do it, i's them. I'm sure of it."

"I think you're right," I agreed. I felt a lot better than I had this morning, that was for sure.

"Recen' news is har' to come by. It's har' not knowin'," said Hagrid.

"Yeah-" I began, but I was cut off by a collective murmur from all around me.

I looked towards where everyone has turned to face, and I gasped. Bellatrix Lestrange was coming- no, _rushing_- towards the Burrow. Everyone drew their wands and aimed them towards her. Some people were whispering and pointing as she got closer. No one bothered to go and intercept her- she would be here within a minute, anyway.

"Nymphadora!" called a voice from the distance. It didn't sound quite like Bellatrix. A little off. Maybe from the distance? But why would she be calling Tonks anyway- and why her full name?

"Nymphadora!" the figure called again, closer now. I blinked. She was running through the yard. A few people were yelling and screaming now. Every single person there had their wand out. She tripped, and everyone relaxed a little.

"Nymphadora! Come here!" scolded ... Bellatrix?

Tonks smiled and stepped forward.

"It's just my mother," she told us, and held out a hand to help the woman up.

There was a collective buzz of question-and-answer as everyone explained to their confused neighbors that Bellatrix and Mrs. Tonks were sisters and had an eerie similarity of appearance (and, from what I had seen, temper, though maybe not what it was directed at).

Tonks and Mrs. Tonks murmured privately together for a little while, Tonks holding both of her mother's hands as she spoke and listened. Tonks looked very serious, which was rare. Her smile seemed as much of a part a permanent body fixture as a leg or an arm to me. I was especially startled when both she and her mother began to cry silently and embrace. Tonks and her parents had never really been the best of friends.

Eventually, Tonks and her mother broke apart. Everyone was standing in a clump several yards away from them, Lupin in the front, looking very concerned. Tonks took his hand, leaving her mother standing to stand in the middle of the yard while sneaking sideways glances at the large group, and led him away from the group, not letting go of his hands while she tearily told him whatever the news was, just as she had kept hold of her mother's when her mother had been telling her this.

Lupin looked stunned when she had finished. He held her close to him, and she cried, not silently anymore, her face buried in his shirt. He looked absentmindedly down at her and stroked her hair with a sigh. He said something to her, and she stopped crying long enough to look up at him. She sniffled, looking like a sad child who would blindly trust anything this person said to her. She listened, then nodded, held him tighter for a moment, her eyes closed, and then broke away from him to go back to her mother.

He walked towards my father and said quietly, "We'll be leaving now ..." before murmuring something I couldn't hear.

"Oh," said my father, blindsided. "Oh, my. I hope they're all right. That ... that's terrible news. Terrible timing, too ..." he added with a glance at Tonks' ever-growing belly. "Yes ... well ... I do hope they get through this ... as smoothly as possible."

"Thank you," said Lupin, even more somber than usual. "It's been a nice evening, Arthur. Thank you for inviting us and thank you for your good wishes."

My father nodded, seeming dazed as he walked over to where my mother and I were now standing together.

"Ted Tonks has been murdered," he told us quietly.


	37. Chapter 36

**Nice, long chapter!! Oh, my gosh, guys. I didn't realize how much I _needed_ writing! Now that I've started again I can't stop! So read, read, read and expect more to read tomorrow! Yayy!**

Everyone left. Just when everyone had managed to start to relax and forget about the war for the first time in months, just about the biggest reminder possible was suddenly glaring us all in the face. It spoiled everything. I mean, how could you be oblivious and predict the war was going to end soon right after there had been another casualty this close to home and heart? And how could a party during wartime be fun if you couldn't predict the end of the war in the not-so-distant future and at least convincingly pretend you believed yourself?

God, that cheerful moment hadn't lasted long, had it?

I was stunned. I had known Ted was away, on the run, but I hadn't known or inferred that he was honestly in danger and not just being extremely and unnecessarily cautious in running away. And all of a sudden, he was dead. Not that I'd known him that well, but some of the Order members (Tonks and Lupin) had known him very well and had been close to him.

I sighed (as natural as talking or maybe even breathing now) and trudged back towards the Burrow, discouraged already. I murmured a goodbye to Hagrid and held up my hand in a half-wave as I passed him. I felt bad, but I didn't fell much like socializing with anyone right now, even one of my favorite people, and even one I hadn't seen in months, which seemed more like years.

Five minutes I was up in my room. It was only about nine, but I was ready for some sleep. It was after I had changed into my pajamas, as I was about to pull back the covers of my bed to climb in, that I noticed something lying there on top of them. It was the letter I had written to Tonks! Ugh. That was perfect. Just … perfect. What more could possibly go wrong in such a short period of time?

I regretted the words the instant I got through thinking them. However, I wasn't generally very superstitious, so I let it slide without worrying about bad luck or anything. But it got me thinking. As I finally I finally clambered under the many layers of sheets, covers, and blankets tucked into the end of my bed, I considered all the important events that had happened today. I honestly and truly considered them. And I ended up coming up with an answer to my own question. This was my final answer: much, much more.

I should really be thankful to be alive right now, if I thought about it the right way. The Ministry had done far worse things than what they hand done to my family and I to people who had been casually accused of crimes that were much worse than what we had been accused of. They hated us, so it was quite startling that we, of all supposed criminals, seemed to be the ones who had gotten off easy. Could this mean that this was a bad time for the Ministry- that they were concentrating on other things? A seriously threatening rebellion by three not-completely-educated teenagers, perhaps? Either way, after I thought about the circumstances and what all this could mean, I felt much better about my own circumstance.

But what really got me to see how well off I was right now compared to other people was remembering everything that had happened to Tonks and Mrs. Tonks. I thought how it would feel to be one of them, or to be Harry, or Ron, or Hermione. To be mourning for a parent who I needed now more than ever, or for the love of my life. Or to be directly risking my life for several months straight.

_Don't be selfish,_ I scolded myself. _There are people, people you know yourself,_ people you saw TODAY, _who have it far worse than you do. Parents, teachers, guardians- all adults, really- are always saying to their kids, 'You have it good. There are people who have it better than you. Yeah. There always will be. But there are people who have it far worse than you do. Be thankful for what you have.' But you're different! You see this people every day. You talk to this people. You know the details of just how bad they really do have it. For God's sake, some of these people are still in the process of leaving your yard right now! Suck it up!_

By the time I had finished with myself, I felt like the biggest spoiled brat in the world, quite frankly, but I also felt like downright the most blessed spoiled brat in the world. It had worked … I guess.

I had it darn _fantastic_, really, I decided. Too fantastic. No one- not a single person- should "have it fantastic" during the time of this bloody war. If you did, you should go fight for your rights and the rights of those you know and love. And then you would have to be on the run, bla, bla, bla, and you wouldn't have it fantastic anymore- instead, you'd be doing your part. You can't have it fantastic and do your part at the same time. It's just impossible. That's why it's called a "war".

That's when I realized it. I wasn't doing my part. Not at all!  
Now, given, as recently as twelve hours ago I had been under house arrest and not allowed to leave my house. But had I gone up and Stunned one of them as soon as they let my family and I free? No! Had I even snuck up on them in the corridor afterwards? No! I had been happy! Gone home! Had a party to celebrate me not being arrest anymore! How could I celebrate when I had been free for almost half a day without fighting?! My conscience should have been driving me insane!

I disgust me.

Finally, I came to a decision. I needed to … somehow … forget about these first twelve hours and move past them. I would start giving back as soon as possible. Nine o'clock tomorrow morning at the latest. No, no- that wasn't early enough. Seven in the morning, then. I had no time to waste. It would take a whole week of overworking myself just to clear my conscience and make it allow me this short period of laziness.

This war had taken so many lives- was _still_ taking so many lives, each day, even after more than three years- that I needed to make the only life I had been given worth at least two to the Wizarding community. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were making theirs worth thousands, maybe _millions_, each. I suppose what I mean by making your life worth a certain amount of lives is a bit like what avenging that amount of people would mean. I'm not quite exactly what I mean, to tell you the truth, but I think that my point is that making sure that amount of people (whatever amount you're making your life worth) didn't die in vain. Not getting revenge for their deaths, exactly, but … sort of making sure that the cause they died for lives on even after they die. You know? And kinda doing the work they would've been willing, able, and raring to do if they were still alive with you to do it.

I know. Deep. Weird for a sixteen-year-old to think all this. But what can I say? I surprise even myself with the complexity of my mind sometimes.

Oh God. I sound like Percy.

But I'm getting wayyy off topic. What I'm trying to say is, after thinking about my life compared to others', to help the community in ways that were beyond the ordinary was what I wanted more than anything.

Don't misinterpret "beyond the ordinary"- I didn't want to do it to be famous. I'd learned from Harry that that wasn't always a good thing. If I ever did something out of the ordinary for the community, the good deed would be born out of my own heart's desire to help those around me who weren't as fortunate as I was. I know. It sounds cheesy and it sounds fake. But really, I swear- it wasn't. And neither was my new determination to be a quiet saint to my community.

You might say that I'm not so fortunate myself, not having very much money. But that's not the only thing in life that matters, especially not when it comes to helping other people. There are ways to help people that aren't hand some stranger at the front desk of a charity office a check and saying, "I'm so glad you're going to use this to buy sandwiches for the kids at the orphanage whose parents died in the war," or buying and delivering the sandwiches yourself, or- or even giving the money to charity workers going door to door, never to see it again or even to know if it got used for the purpose the charity workers said it was for and that you intended it for! (As you might be able to tell by now, I'm a little paranoid about doing that. My mom once told me a story about that second cousin of hers, the one's who's an accountant. He collected money on the Muggle streets, saying he was part of a charity for childhood cancer, and then used the money to go to Florida- he lives in the States.)

Instead of using money, you can fight the big fight, the one that's the reason they need those sandwiches in the first place. You don't necessarily have to fight the biggest fight- bring down the main in charge, like Harry's doing- but fight at least some little part of the big fight. Because in the end, it all matters.

Just get involved. Knock one of You-Know-Who's yesmen (a.k.a. Death Eaters) off his broom and straight to St. Mungo's. Or, like Kingsley, switch departments if you're an important Order spy who works for the Ministry, which will lose the dear Minister himself one of his most important workers. These little things might not seem like much, but they add up. To me, they aren't that much harder than handing out the money, but they help just as much, if not more- and probably more.

Take down the culprits instead of helping up the victims, because d'you know what? The victims'll just get pushed right back down again. And by the time you help them up again, some other victim you just helped needs you again, too. As an alternative, like I said, bring down the culprits. By taking down the culprits, you're helping every single victim- permanently. Not even villians can make someone the subject of their wrath if they're dead. The victim will never be targeted by that person again, and if you keep taking down the less important culprits, I promise it'll end up making a huge different, and before you know it, they won't be able to be targeted by anyone else, either, because you've defeated enough to scare the rest away.

With a tired heart and a mind that was very much awake, I turned off the light on my nightstand and tried to get some rest. I had a big day, week, or maybe even year coming to me.

**Please oh puh-leassse review!**


	38. Chapter 37

**In a huge rush! All I can say is, for those of you who didn't catch it, the show they're about to broadcast is the one Harry, Ron, and Hermione heard that had Fred and his "Severus Snape confronted with shampoo" joke, so I didn't rewrite it out again. Enjoy what I did write, though!! Sorry for any spelling mistakes, but I'm rushing. Point them out in review and I'll fix them.**

For all our cocky predictions and confident announcements, things didn't get better any time soon. But Fred and George did manage to get in contact with Lee and arrange for the two of them to be on Pottercast every once in a while starting in March. We listened all the time now, daily, because we still had to watch how far we pushed our probation privileges. We still couldn't be the Order's host family again, and we couldn't make the Burrow headquarters again, however convenient it had been and would have been if we could have it that way again.

But the radio broadcast was surely _not_ our only lifeline to the outside world (I know, melodramatic). We might not want to push our limits too far, but that definitely didn't stop us from pushing them at all. We went out, and, in particular, were constantly visiting the Lupins' house to try and make Tonks feel better. (No, it wasn't a mistake. Tonks' father was … still dead.)

Slightly ignoring our limits was enough to make the month of February go by remarkably faster than any month since I was thirteen and the war had started.

So it seemed like just a week or so after the party that it was time to go to Wales, where Fred and George would be doing their Pottercast show with Lee.

The show was in a different place every time it was broadcast (daily whenever possible, though sometimes Lee was caught and it wasn't) so that the Death Eaters wouldn't find Lee and, well, kill him, to be blunt. Wales was a good place for it to be because it was a large city with all sorts of radio signals coming from it. How could anyone pick Lee's out from any of the many, many others? Not the Death Eaters, that's for sure, those guys are idiots.

After reaching Wales, we spent a pleasant night there in a quite fancy Muggle hotel, though it was more irksome than you could possibly know, since you can't use magic at all, to do everything the Muggle way, even if it was for just a night, to keep it from the Muggles that we were more than just people who knew funny words. Yes. You heard me. We could basically talk freely, because the Muggles didn't understand, and the bellhop who rode in the elevator with us to help us with the luggage was like, "Whoa … you people know funny words." Draw your own conclusions. All I'm gonna say is, as soon as he left, my brothers are like, "Was he on something?" I just stared after him and then at them and said, "Yes … definitely on something …"

The next day, everyone was excited. It was very much like guest starring on a TV show that's a family favorite … except one of your brothers' best friends is on it … just a bit bizarre. But let's be done with comparisons that make no sense whatsoever. On to the good stuff.

We met Lee at the hotel café in time for breakfast the next morning. The twins and him said hello and how great it was to see each other and were as emotional as it is socially acceptable for twenty-year-old guys to be. Then, of course, since we were, after all, in a café, we stuffed ourselves with danishes, eggs, cereal, and many other innutritious breakfast foods.

What did we talk about as we stuffed ourselves, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you this much: we said lots more funny words. (Actually, I saw the bellhop again, and he was going, "YOU STUPID MUGGLE! I'M GONNA GO ALL QUIDDITCH ON YOU IF YOU DON'T START LISTENING TO ME REAL SOON!" at some poor intern. Well, one out o' two ain't bad … He was clearly proud of himself for knowing a few new curse words before all his buddies- too bad they weren't curse words at all. One thing was for sure, he'd confused everyone he was working with. They looked completely puzzled, and he looked completely blissful. But just to be safe, my dad offhandedly and discreetly put a Memory Loss Charm on him as we passed by. Bad, bad boy, bellhop. No more curse words for you.)

After we had finished breakfast, which took a while, we packed up, checked out, and beat it outta there. We hurried about half a mile down the road (one of those old-fashioned cobblestone ones) to a little shop that had an unreadable, crooked sign hanging off of one knob above the door as it swayed in the slight breeze and a filthy black exterior. There were no lights on inside the little building, so we couldn't see the interior. Or maybe the windows were just grimy …

"Isn't it perfect?" beamed Lee.

"Fan-tastic," agreed the twins enthusiastically, without the slightest trace of sarcasm in their voices. "Don't you think so, Ginny?" George added excitedly.

"Sure," I agreed feebly, shuddering involuntarily as Lee pulled open the door and revealed the equally dirty and black interior of the shop.

The inside of the room looked no better than the outside had. The dust-coated curtains covered the windows, but when I opened them to let in some light, no light filled the room. The windows had a thick coating of a substance that was black, goopy, and- here's the scary part- unidentifiable. Needless to say, I wasn't in much of a hurry to touch it and see what it was.

I looked around at what I could see of the small main room of the store in the darkness. Its entire interior was black. Furniture … walls … for all I knew, even the air. That's really how little I could see, and black air would definitely explain it, would it not? Anyway, the whole aura was very sinister in this place. There were a few dusty wooden shelves on the walls and many more behind the long wooden counter (which was, obviously, like everything else, including the shelves, painted black).

"It was a Dark Arts shop year and years ago. Never got remodeled. Not exactly worth what it would cost," Lee said with a smirk as he eyed my disgusted facial expression.

"Right well … why are we her so early in the first place?" I asked. "The show isn't until the afternoon, right?"

"Yeah," agreed Lee. "We'll be broadcasting in a few hours. At four. But fist I had to come here and get all the bulletins I'll be reading on-air. Well, not reading, exactly-that would be too boring. But saying the information that's in them, anyway."

The whole time Lee was talking, he was tapping and brushing the dust off the equipment that had been brought to the room especially for the broadcast of Potterwatch that would be taking place here this afternoon. Even though everything had only been there one night, the grime of the room had spread to the supplies. It was covered in dust and dirt. My mother was behind me, and she couldn't stop coughing.

"So let's check the mail, shall we?" suggested Lee, grinning. Fred and George looked pleased, too. They were obviously all in on some secret or good joke. Knowing Fred and George, it was a joke. The three of them walked to the back of the store, and Fred pulled hard on a door I hadn't even noticed in the gloom of the tiny shop.

The second Fred managed to heave the heavy metal door open the slightest crack, I screamed and clamped my hands over my ears.

Owls! Tons of owls! They shrieked and hooted and cried noisily out into the main room and just overall made the biggest racket I'd heard in my entire life!

"Are you trying to bloody scare me to death?!" I shouted over the noise.

Fred, Goerge, and Lee had collapsed on the floor in a fit of laughter that was so loud that I could hear it even with the slight background noise those adorable little owls were making. (And if you couldn't tell, I was being sarcastic. It can be so hard to tell in writing. Quite tragic- who doesn't love a little sarcasm?)

"Oh, come on, now, either shut the door or shut up the owls," my mother chided the three boys. She wasn't angry yet, but she still had to yell to be heard over the din from the next room.

They just kept laughing.

"That's enough, boys!" my father called to them warningly.

They managed to get up off the floor, though they were still chuckling, but I couldn't hear them because they _still hadn't shut the door_! But, as they chuckled, the finally did close it. Instantly, there was silence again. I glared suspiciously at the door.

"Soundproof," explained George. I glared at him instead. Who said he could talk to me, anyway?!

"That … was … brilliant!" moaned Fred, clearly in agony from trying so hard not to burst into laughter again.

"No. Not brilliant. And besides, where did you get all of those owls?" asked my mother sternly.

"They're all bringing messages with things people want me to say on air for them," said Lee, the corners of his mouth twitching before he finally gave up and allowed himself another laugh. "They really are," he panted when he was finally able to regain self-control, out of breath with mirth, "it's just that you should you should have seen your faces when we opened that door!" And, with that, he was off laughing again, but was able to continue and say, "Don't worry, the room's under all sorts of enchantments. The owls can't get out, but I can get in. To tell you the truth, I only really pat attention to the ones that are from former Daily Prophet reporters. Y'know. The ones who got fired for being on our side. They're the ones that have the news, the important stuff, the true stuff, and sometimes even both in one. Imagine that." He grinned and added, "You might want to get out, though, honestly. I really do need to check my mail, and it doesn't get quieter when I go in there and get them all hyped up. Not at all."

"I think we _will_ step out after all," agreed my father, one hand on my shoulder and one on my mother's as he backed us towards the door and the boys, with mischievous expressions, inched back toward the big door.

We waited outside while Fred and George helped Lee figure out which ones out of all those owls had actually important letters and messages. When they were finally finished with that complicated task, we all went out to lunch, spoke fluent Muggle the entire time, just as an extra precaution, and then decided to sunbathe at the nearby bay for a while while we waited for Lupin and Kingsley, the show's special guests of the day. Which is when we realized that it was March, it was forty-five degrees outside, and changed our minds, ending up going, instead of sunbathing, to do some Muggle sport called "bowling" while we waited.

Finally, after two or three games of this absurd "bowling" thing, it was time to head back to the dark little shop, where we would meet Lupin and Kingsley and get started on the broadcast.

They were right on time, and Lee did his soundchecks and technical stuff for a few minutes that seemed like a few hours. Finally, it was time for the live broadcast. Tonks (who had come along for the ride), my parents, and I had been chatting as we waited for everything to be ready, but we stopped instantly in mid-discussion as one of Fred and George's other friends, acting as recorder/director for Potterwatch, counted down to when they'd be going live. We didn't talk at all the entire time they were on. If you were listening to the show, I'd bet you wouldn't even know we were there.

Before the show, I'd asked Fred and George in private to sned an "if you're listening" message to Harry through she show that said we were all there for him, that we were all fine, and that he should be careful. And to say emphatically that the message was from _all _of us. He'd get it.

But after a while, Lee started to wrap the show up for the day, and it was clear they couldn't care less about interrupting him to give my message. I guess they either both forgot or thought an "if you're out there" message would be too unprofessional for their first day on the job- not that they were acting at all professional.

Either way, my message wasn't getting out there. I was furious! I waited until Lee was done, hearing the director/recorder's call of "Cut! That's a wrap!" in the back of my mind, put paying no heed to it whatsoever. I rushed up to the table where they were recording, grabbed the microphone right off the table, and said, "This is … Rummy." _Rummy?!_ "Harry, Ron, and Hermione, if you're listening, we're all there for you. And Harry, we're all fine. SO be careful so you will be too. Like I said, this is Rummy. So … bye."

Everyone stared at me.

"Sorry, Ginny," said Lee slowly, staring at me as if I were a slightly mental child, "we're already off the air. Actually, we have been since before you started."


	39. Chapter 38

**Hello! Sorry I haven't posted in two days. On Thursday, I couldn't be on my computer because I've been having organization problems at school and got my computer privileges taken away, and yesterday … well, it was Friday. What can I say? Fridays are just not productive. This is a short little fluff chapter … but what do short little fluff chapters give me time to write? Big important battle chapters!! Yes, this is the last fluff chapter before the battle. From now on, it's going to be only important things. The chapter with Gringotts breakin, the unofficial start of the battle, should be posted on Monday. I hope you're as excited as I am!! But read this while you wait!**

After that embarrassing incident, we went back home and the month of March passed uneventfully. Fred and George were on Potterwatch a few more times that month, but it wasn't as big a deal after the first time. They left home for a few hours, said a few good jokes that the rest of the family listened to on the radio, and came home with slightly inflated heads.

Speaking of the twins, it was, before we knew it, it was time for their birthdays. They'd be 20 on April 1st, 1998. Yes, April Fool's Day- when else?

To celebrate, we invited Lee over. The three boys did the day's Potterwatch broadcast for the day- almost constant jokes in honor of _both_ holidays, April Fool's Day _and_ the twins' birthday. After they finished with that, Lee came home to our house with Fred and George for the day. We played Quidditch first thing after they got back, because we didn't want to take the chance of running out of daylight. It was Lee and I against Fred and George, and the final score ended up being 150-300. It was so tied before Fred caught the Snitch! Besides, since It was their birthday, I let them win.

Really! Honestly! I did! Okay, I lie …

After our quick game of Quidditch, it was already almost sunset. We went inside to have Fred and George's favorite dinner, spaghetti with homemade sauce and meatballs. All through dinner, we didn't talk much, because we were all enjoying our food. We finished eating and shifted to the family room to chat and those cute little after-dinner mints.

We talked about the popularity of Potterwatch and how, for many people, it was the only source of news about the war. After all, we weren't the only ones the Ministry had arrested lately. There were lots of people who were in the same situation we had been only a couple of months earlier.

Lee said that when he spoke to someone he was walking with on the streets, people around him sometimes did a double take and looked around them, or stared, whispered excitedly to each other, or sometimes were even brave enough to ask him quietly what his name was, trying to find out if it was something like River. He regretted not being able to discuss the show with them and hear the opinion of an unbiased listener, but, for his own safety, he had to tell them, no, his name was Jack, and he was very sorry, but he was in quite a hurry, so would they please excuse him so he could run some urgent errands.

Most of all he hate causing the terribly strong looks of disappointment his hurried response made them get in their eyes. (Of course, he said this all in a much more sappy way, being a twenty-year-old guy, but you know me.) After all, he rightly pointed out, the show was supposed to do good, not get him attention and others unrealized hopes. Though I knew that the encouraging news and messages reported on the show did in fact give some of the people who tuned in just that, I joined in with my family when they assured him that he was honestly doing much more good than he was doing damage, which was probably true at the same time, because there were thousands, maybe millions, of people listening to Potterwatch every day. All of them were getting hope from this one little radio show. Potterwatch had the most recent news around, reporting deaths, sightings of either side's important leaders, or whatever the newest story was as soon as it was confirmed, and may even have been the single accurate source of information for our side unless you had a Death Eater neighbor who was willing to chat, have a little quality bonding time, you know, tell a few stories about what they'd been up to lately.

Then, after a lengthy discussion on those topics, it was finally time for what everyone is waiting for when you're celebrating a birthday. It was time for cake and ice cream, which I was prepared to help myself to two servings of, though I wasn't really hungry anymore- those cute little mints are shockingly filling!

"All right, let's go back to the dining room," suggested my mother. "It's time for dessert. Chocolate cake with butter-cream frosting that I just whipped up this morning while you boys were out doing your thing on the show- _and_ you all also get a side of double fudge brownie ice cream with real brownie chunks. I just picked it up at the Muggle supermarket down the road a few days ago. The Muggles are quite odd in some of the ways they do things without magic, but they do a very good job with the ice cream."

Everyone heartily agreed that we needed something more to eat, though it had been barely more than half an hour since we had finished our dinner, and followed her to shift back to the dining room. Twenty minutes later, after some uneventful idle chatting over dessert, it was time to open presents.

"All right, boys, I think it's time to open some things your father and I found for you," my mother said, smiling slightly.

"You're really too old for birthday presents from your mum and dad, but you're getting them anyway," my father told them, but he was smiling too.

"I think we'll live, we won't be too agonized by getting a few birthday presents, will we, now, George?" said Fred, pretending to be pondering the subject and looking a little mock-worried.

"Yes, Fred, as a matter of fact, I think you are absolutely correct. We shall live. So give us the goods!" cried George jovially.

And they were "given the goods," to phrase it their way. They got a new set of Quidditch supplies from my parents, which was good, because our old Snitch had been so slow you could see it the whole game and we had to cal it off limits for the first fifteen minutes if we wanted the game to last very long at all. Otherwise, every game would be 0-150. Oh- and as for our Bludgers? You know how it's hard to get them to stay in the box? Well, ours didn't struggle at all. We had a hard time getting them _out_ of the box. Those things are heavy!

But that's enough Quidditch talk. Where was I …? Oh. Right. They also received something from Lee that he made them open in privat, that they wouldn't show my parents, and that made them not be able to stop snickering whenever they looked at each other for the rest of the evening after they opened it. At one point, when my parents went to get some coffee from the kitchen and it was just the four of us at the table, the three boys laughing quietly again, I opened my mouth and started to ask if I even wanted to know what it was that Lee had given them. But I closed it quickly. I was pretty sure I didn't.

After we finished opening presents and were just sitting around the table, Lee went into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Approximately … a few … seconds later, we heard a yelp, and we heard him exclaim, "Merlin! It's already midnight!"

He hurried back into the dining room. Lee was, for all his strong opinions and odd ways of saying things, a very polite young man who was always careful to make sure he never disrespected his elders or overstayed his welcome, so he was rather appalled at himself for staying at the Burrow so late.

"I apologize for being so rude as to stay this late and intrude on your hospitality, Mrs. Weasley," he said to my mother. "It was very kind of you to invite me here to your home tonight, and I should never have taken advantage of that. It was incredibly bad manners."

"Oh, no, dear, don't be so hard on yourself, you didn't- didn't stay too long at all," said my mother sweetly, but it really was late for her, and she had to stifle a yawn as she spoke.  
Lee, ever the gentlemen and getting more repulsed at himself by the second, rushed quickly out of the room to get his coat off the rack in the hall closet.

My father had grown progressively quiet as the hours ticked by, until he was finally silent around eleven, but at this he stumbled with bleary eyes after lee and muttered grumpily to no one in particular, "What does he think, that we're old folks who are used to going to bed at nine every night?"

My mother patted his back gently and said, "Yes, dear, he does, and he's quite right. You've been to bed at nine every night for the last three years. Now get upstairs while I see the boy out, there's my good man."

We all went out to say goodnight to Lee as my father slowly made his way upstairs, following my mother's order like a blindly obedient child (one, I might add, who has not had his nap today and is clearly much worse for it).

"Bye!" the twins called after Lee as he walked outside. Lee waved and called, "Enjoy your day off the show tomorrow!" as he turned and disappeared.

Fred let out a contented sigh, patted his full stomach, and said, "Now that's what I call a party." Then he turned to George and immediately started chuckling darkly under his breath, saying to his twin, "Could you believe …?"

George answered, "I know! And when he showed us …"

"I was like, 'You're giving us …!'"

"It was …!"

"Right! And so ridiculous!"

I rolled my eyes and followed Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dee up the stairs. I really had no earthly idea what the heck they would do if they were ever separated for over an hour.


	40. Chapter 39

**Kinda short. Moderately important and moderately bad writing. But that's because I was so anxious to get on to the battle! Guys, yes, I've written one and a half chapters of the battle and I have NEVER EVER had this much fun writing. I just can't wait to post it. First battle chapter tomorrow!!**

Time passed. Not just passed. Sprinted right by us, actually. But it came to a screaming halt one day in the middle of April.

We were listening to Pottercast just like we always did (it was one of Fred and George's off days, so they were at home with us). Spring was all around us and we were itching for change.

Finally, Lee made an important announcement. We all straightened up when he announced that he had an urgent bulletin to share with Britain.

"We have some big news today. Very important, which is dreadfully rare at this point," he told all the listeners.

"Amen!" said Fred and George together, doing that pound-on-your-chest-and-make-a-peace-sign thing.

"The most famous trio in the world … I know I don't really need to say their names, but it's Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger … has been spotted. The most famous trio in the world, that is. Not Hermione Granger. Though she's very good-looking, quite spottable. But-uh- before Ron Weasley himself bursts in here to kill me, I should get back on topic. They've … been spotted. Right. Already said that … um … oh. Right. They were actually captured by the Death Eaters."

My mum began to cry already. Of course.

"Never fret, dear Britain! Stop! Stop! I can see you fretting! I said stop!!" Lee joked on the radio.

My mother stopped.

"They escaped!" Lee cried. "So you can calm down, everyone. Yes, Mrs. Weasley, I'm talking to you."

My mother did a sad sort of chuckle, or at least something like it.

"They appear to have been captured by the Death Eaters for a few hours by saying the Taboo word. You all know what I mean. You-Know-Who's real name. They were fetched by unimportant, minor Death Eaters who were working the job of common Snatchers for some extra loot, but the Snatchers recognized them and turned them in to Bellatrix Lestrange and the other elite Death Eaters who are in Voldemort's inner circle. The report is that eighteen-year-old Hermione Granger, highly intelligent best friend of Ron Weasley and Harry Potter himself … was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange using the Cruciatus Curse while the three of them were trapped in Malfoy Manor for a short period of time."

My mother and I both gasped.

"It is, at this point, unknown how she is recovering or why she was tortured, if there was any real reason at all, that is, other than Bellatrix being bored, but we all wish her well and hope that she did not sustain any permanent injuries. I am confident that with the help of her two best friends, her recovery will not prove to be a problem for this unstoppable team. I am sure that whatever they are doing will not be interrupted by this slight inconvenience, as it would seem to the three teenagers who are presumably hunting down and seeking to kill the most dangerous wizard of all time. I am sure that Ron will see it to it that she is just fine."

He snickered.

"But anyway. We do not know where they have escaped to, and we can only hope that is a sufficient place for them to take a bit of a time-out and rest a while. And that concludes the final segment of today's Potterwatch show. I want you all to have a wonderful day and bear in mind that no news is good news, so no more tears over that pesky old Great-Aunt Lucille who won't return your owls. And I would also like you to bear in mind that each of the trio is, odds are, completely fine at this point and probably right out their getting back to working at whatever it is they're doing. Well, everyone, that's the scoop from your friends here at Potterwatch. Tomorrow's password is 'Moony'. And remember- be loyal to the man with the lightning scar. Thank you and goodnight."

There was a dead sort of silence in the room that was broken only by the loud static noise now coming from the radio. My mother hadn't started to cry again, but looked extremely worried.

"Oh, dear," she fretted, "I do hope Hermione's all right, she's such a lovely girl, isn't she? I do wonder what Lee meant though- he was only kidding around, of course, but I don't understand why Ron would care if Lee did fancy Hermione. Lee can be quite confusing sometimes, I think he should maybe be more direct about what he's trying to say …"

She paced and wrung her hands, letting off steam in the only way she, as a mother of seven, knew how. It was the only way that applied to almost all situations, and, being in charge of Fred and George, she had quite nearly seen it all.

I distinctly remember wondering as she commented on Lee not being direct enough whether it was really physically possible for a human being to be that clueless. And I also distinctly remember deciding that, for anyone other than my mother, the answer was absolutely not.

"Yeah, Mum, I donnou," I said absentmindedly as I thought about the broadcast.

Harry hadn't been mentioned at all. Hermione had been, and, by default, since Lee wasn't as clueless as my mother, so had my brother. But not a word about Harry. Lee wouldn't keep something like Harry's death from all of Britain … would he? No, no. He couldn't. I was just being paranoid. Expected girlfriend- no, I had to tell myself, _ex_-girlfriend- behavior.

God, I hate that word. Ex. It's not even a real word. But I hate it. It's all that stops me from being Harry's girlfriend, if you really think about it. (Note: For you slower people out there, try saying it out loud.)

Anyway. This was huge! Enormous! Immense! It was obviously the start of something … right? Wasn't it? No … probably not … well, I supposed there was nothing to do but wait. Oh, look what a coincidence- there's nothing I _hate_ to do more than wait. Hmm. Funny how that worked out, isn't it?

Soon I came to the decision that, while I did my least favorite thing in the world, I would try to convince myself that this was, indeed, the start of something. I know, I know. Unlikely. But just humor me, all right, because, in my opinion, it's long past time that "something" started. So in my mind, I would make it start.

There was nothing going on. Hardly any rebellion. All my determination to do good had come to nothing, because nothing was just about what we could do at that time. The big public issue was the Muggleborns having to be registered with the Ministry, and since we had to keep the lowest profile possible while on probation, it wasn't like we could burst in going "CHARGE!" while branding pitchforks, torches, and horned Viking helmets (betcha didn't know they didn't even really wear those). All the deaths and disappearances were sudden, unpredictable, had to do with people on the run who we couldn't possibly have assisted, or all three. We couldn't really help all that much. It wasn't like we could put a Shield Charm around every single person in Britain (including Muggles), even though that was exactly who was being affected by Voldemort's reign of terror- well, them in addition to the rest of the entire human and animal world, that is.

But there was a lot more on my mind that day than just that. First of all, Ron was alive! Definitely alive! And Hermione … well, Lee had been right. Ron would be way overprotective and probably wouldn't let Harry make her so much as get her own tea until weeks after she'd covered. She'd be fine. I wasn't much worried over her, because she'd never been the weak and giggly type who would get all frail over being tortured. I knew Hermione, and she'd be out in the forest walking around hunting for the right natural remedy out of one of her textbooks to cure herself (that is, of course, only until my brother found her).

Then I got to wondering how recent this news was. Potterwatch only reported confirmed sightings and news. By the time something was definite, it could take a while, and not only that, but, well, Death Eater news like this got around eventually, all right (through people like Tonks and Kingsley), but it took a while most times. They could've been caught last week or they could've been caught at Christmas. There was really no telling anymore.

We spent the afternoon joking, laughing, and chattering our jaws off nonstop to burn off a small fraction of the astonishing amounts of energy we had gotten when we had heard about the possibility of good things to come.

Then, that night, Hagrid showed up on our doorstep, congratulating us on, well, Ron being alive, and also carrying … his notorious rock cakes. Uh-oh.

We all got a little rowdy, celebrated, and made more outrageous predictions for the end of the war.

I was laughing my head off sometime around midnight at something that probably wasn't funny when I realized something that me celebrate even harder. It was this: We hadn't had anything to celebrate in a long time. Hope had come at last, and with it came joy.


	41. Chapter 40

**It's short, it's rushed, and it's all I got! Sorry. It's complicated, but this is what I have, but the next 2 or 3 chapters are all set, so count on a chapter for the next few days. Longer ones, too. All right, in a bit of a hurry, but please enjoy & don't forget to review!**

It was about a month after we found out that Ron was definitely alive that the next notable thing happened.

It was late May, and unseasonably hot. My brothers and I were playing a very sweaty game of Quidditch in the orchard up on the hill near the Burrow, being careful not to fly high enough for the Muggles to spot us, when my mother, smiling broadly, came around the corner of the house from the front yard and came towards us.

"Lupin's here," she said giddily. "He came to tell us the good news."

"What good news?" my brothers and I asked in unison, ecstatic already.

"Tonks had her baby this morning!" cried my mother joyfully.

"She did?!" I cried.

I steered my broom towards the ground and began to dive towards the hill as fast as possible so that I wouldn't have time to fall off my broom in shock.

"That's great! What is it?"

"I was hoping for alien," answered one of my brothers casually, swinging off his broom behind me.

"Oh, shut up," I muttered, and my mother, ignoring him, said, "It was a boy! A lovely little healthy baby boy that Remus and Tonks named Teddy after Tonks' father."

"That's fantastic!" I gushed.

"When do we get to meet the dear little fellow," asked Fred formally, "because I really think we should start his discipline early, lay down the laws, show him who's boss, if you know what I mean."

"Well, I thought we'd drop by St. Mungo's this evening and then treat Remus to a congratulatory dinner afterwards. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me," said Fred and George together.

"Yeah, yeah, sounds great," I agreed impatiently. "Did you say Lupin was still here?"

"Yes. He's still inside," said my mother.

"Good," I said, dropping my broom in the middle of the field and speedwalking towards the house. "I'm going to say hi," I added unnecessarily over my shoulder.

I reached the Burrow and opened the kitchen door, letting it slam against the wall.

"Hello?" I called.

"In here, Ginny!" came my father's voice from the direction of the sitting room.

I knocked on the door frame and peeked inside. Lupin and my father were talking casually, but for the first time in months, instead of subconsciously frowning, they were smiling effortlessly. They weren't even thinking about it. Less-than-a-day-old little Teddy Lupin had already made the world a better place.

"Hey, Lupin," I greeted our guest. "How's it going?"

"Wonderful," he answered, his grin nearly taking up his entire face.

"So?" I prompted. "Do you have any pictures yet? News?"

"Yes," said Lupin, digging in his pocket. "Ah. Here it is. This is Teddy. He's eight pounds, four ounces." He beamed at the picture. I took hold of one of the corners and turned it towards me a little so I could see it.

It was a picture of a little pink (but not that ugly newborn red) baby with a single tuft of turquoise hair in the middle of his tiny head. He was in a very fuzzy-looking blanket, but had gotten his hands free and was waving a fist at the camera and appeared to be giggling.

"Ooooh! He's so cute!" I sighed, having one of those "girly" moments. "But ... where'd he get his hair?"

Lupin laughed and answered, "From his mother, believe it or not. He's a Metamorphmagus too. I think he was blond when I left." I laughed.

Soon my brothers and mother came in, and they agreed with me. Well, my brothers didn't really go "Ooooh! He's so cute!", but they totally were thinking it. I could tell.

We got out the firewhisky and toasted Teddy, then just had a little party of our own until Lupin had to leave to go and tell everyone else the good news. He stayed for a long time before that, and when he did leave, it was with a promise to meet us in Tonks' hospital room at St. Mungo's in two hours.

We smartened ourselves up a bit and then we were off to St. Mungo's one hour later. We headed back towards the orchard, where we Apparated from and ended up in a back alley in London right near the abandoned shop that was the entrance to the hospital.

We got very complicated and confusing directions from the receptionist which did not help whatsoever, so it took us half an hour to find either Teddy or Tonks, but as St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries is the only magical hospital in Britain, that's fairly understandable.

We finally found the nursery, and we all crowded around the window, peering through the glass to try and get a glimpse of Teddy, or even to try and figure out which one he was. It wasn't very hard. The gurgling, smiling, pink little baby with the lime green hair, our Teddy, stood out a little bit in the nursery full of red, screaming, bald newborns. We probably stood there silently for ten minutes straight, my brothers and father shifting restlessly next to us as my mother and I feasted our eyes, occasionally going, "Awww" or "Ohhhhh" whenever Teddy so much as shifted a foot.

"All right," said my mother after a while. "Let's go."

"Yes, I think it's time to do that," said my father, not doing a very good job of hiding his relief.

"Do we have to?" I whined as we walked away to find someone that could give us simple directions to Tonks' hospital room.

The only one we found was a nurse who didn't do any better of a job of giving directions than the receptionist did, so it was only after a long period of wrong turns and wandering aimlessly through the halls that we found Tonks in her room, and by that point Lupin had beat us there.

"Hi, everyone," said Tonks, straightening up on her pillows.

"Hey!" I greeted her, smiling. "How are you?"

"Tired," she answered weakly.

"That's one cute baby you've got there," said my father.

"Oh, isn't he? Did you stop by the nursery?" said Tonks proudly.

"Yeah, for ten minutes," muttered George.

"Yes, and he's sooo cute!" I gushed.

"Oh, right, do you want me to have a nurse bring him in here so you can hold him?"

"Sure," I said a little too quickly, trying not to sound like I wanted to say, "I thought you'd never ask!" And that was hard, because that's exactly what I wanted to do.

So we all congratulated Tonks as she summoned a nurse who happened to be walking past the doorway (isn't one always?) to ask if she could bring Teddy in. It seemed like ages before the nurse got back with him, because I adore babies, but it was probably only a few minutes. Then my mother and I argued over who got to hold him first. I won, obviously, and Tonks, who the nurse had handed Teddy to, gave me him in turn.

"Hey, baby," I said quietly. His little blue eyes were so bright! How sweet! I handed him my finger to play with, which he did. I held onto him for as long as I could before my mom made me hand him over to her.

To me, Teddy, and every other baby born during any war in history, means a lot. A baby being born during wartime stands for healing. For compensation. For a new life- a new chance. So it meant a lot to hold baby Teddy that day.

We stayed there for as long as common courtesy would allow (and we pushed it a little, even). But eventually we had to go.

"All right, well," said my mother, "we'll let you get your rest so we can come back and pester you both again tomorrow."

There was a general chuckle and a sigh of affection as my mother passed a sleeping Teddy, who she had been hogging-er-holding, back to his mother, who held her arms out eagerly, yet tenderly, for her son.

"Please, feel free to pester either of us any time you want," she said quietly. "As long as it's after seven in the morning."

Everyone laughed, but it was all hushed so as not to wake up the baby.

"And they're treating me to dinner," said Lupin, standing up from where he had been sitting in the corner so the rest of us could get up close to Teddy, "so I had better go with them before I lose my food source for the night."

He kissed Tonks and Teddy, then murmured, "I'll be back at eight tomorrow, sweetheart," to Tonks before turning to us, putting his hands together, and saying, "So, everyone's all ready, then? Good, then. Let's go."

We were able t leave the hospital in much less time than it had taken us to come in, because this time we had the help of the highly competent Lupin. We headed straight for the Leaky Cauldron, and then entered Diagon Alley.

It was frightening enough in the daytime anymore, but in the dark it was downright terrifying. We almost ran to the little Italian pasta place we wanted to eat at, and there was a hurried sort of atmosphere the whole time we were eating, because we all just wanted to get out of there.

But there was still a very joyous atmosphere underneath it, too, the kind of joy that only a new baby can bring. And if I were superstitious, this whole day would have seemed like a good omen of things to come. Things to change.


	42. Chapter 41

**Sorry there was no chapter today or Monday, but I've been writing more of my RENT fic and here is the first chapter of the battle!! Immensely long!! Hope you like reading it as much as I LOVED writing it!**

This next section is the first part in a nine-part account of the single most important twenty-four hours of my life or anyone else's in my time, Muggle or wizard.

It was a normal day at first, really. Though it was unlike any other, it started out as dull as the next. It was a lazy summer's day in early June. In the morning, I prepared to visit Tonks and her week-old baby, Teddy. I had almost completely forgotten about the letter because I had forgotten to give it to Tonks so many times, so I left the house without sparing the note I had written what seemed like years ago another thought.

I walked the entire distance to Tonks' beach-style house with my head tilted upwards, admiring the clouds and the beauty of the day. I smiled to myself and even hummed a little as I took my time strolling along the sidewalk. There might be a war going on somewhere close by, but right now nothing could seem further away than fighting and bloodshed. It was the first summery day we had had this year, and it was impossible not be happy about it. There was something in the air today, too, something I couldn't quite identify just yet …

I knocked lightly on Tonks' door, but didn't wait for an answer before going in. I looked up to see Tonks coming down the stairs with Teddy in her arms.

"Oh, hey, Ginny," she said, smiling. "Come in! Teddy's being clingy today, or I'm sure he would let you hold him-sorry about that- not sure what's up with him, but, you know, he's only a baby, so he does tend to get what he wants."

"Yeah, true. How can anyone resist a baby? Hi, Teddy!" I said, smiling. Teddy smiled back and giggled, but didn't make his usual move to reach out to me, trying to get me to hold him. (I know, most week-old babies don't smile and giggle very much, but wizard babies are advanced.)

"Aww, baby, don't you want to go to Ginny?" asked Tonks. "No?" She smiled apologetically at me and shrugged. "Sorry, Ginny Auntie. Like I said, I don't know what's gotten into him." She looked at him worriedly. "Maybe it's colic."

I looked incredulously at Teddy, who was now gurgling and waving his hands cheerily, and back at his mother. "New mums," I muttered, shaking my head disbelievingly.

Tonks heard me and laughed. "I guess you're right. He's fine. Here, I have to go get one of his toys, I left it in our new car, the one we had to buy right after he was born … Complete pain, I'm telling you … Oh, but of course you know. Sorry. But remember, only two more months. Here, can you hold him?"

Tonks tried to hand Teddy off to me, but the little boy who was usually the happiest baby I knew began wailing his head off and clutching his mother's arms for dear life. I was highly offended, actually.

"Oh- oh- Teddy!" sighed Tonks, exasperated as he scratched her arms trying to get a hold on them in his panic. She held him again and told him, "That's not nice, c'mon, it's only Auntie Ginny, now, she's not going to hurt you, Mummy needs to get your toy- it'll only take a minute-" And she tried again to hand him to me, but he wailed even harder. I felt hurt! Devastated! Used! And all this from a week-old baby!

So we _all_ had to go get his stinking toy. I was fuming. But then, when we were going up the stirs to get back upstairs Tonks had him over her shoulder, and he smiled at me, holding his head up and everything. Then he stared at me with those bright blue eyes (which today stylishly matched his hair color), and I was a goner. I wasn't mad anymore. Like, seriously. How can you be mad at a baby?

Tonks, being such a good mother even after just one week, always knew what was best for Teddy, and though sometimes it's tough love, she knew that right now was not one of those times. So, the entire day, she carried that little boy around. He didn't take a nap, he didn't get put in his bouncy seat, and he didn't even get put down on a blanket to try and crawl. Everywhere Tonks went, so did Teddy.

Since Teddy was born, I had spent probably half of my days in the Lupin home, playing with baby Teddy in the third-floor living area. (Their house, as I mentioned, was built in that beach style, so the kitchen and one of the two living areas was upstairs.)

But today was different. There was an aura in the air that I couldn't describe, and for some reason I couldn't get these nervous butterflies out of my stomach all day, even though there's no place you'll ever feel more welcome than there at Tonks' house. The fact that Teddy was acting so peculiarly this morning struck me as ominous. He seemed to be getting the same danger instinct as I was, and I didn't blame him for his odd behavior. To tell you the truth, this weird vibe made me want my mummy, too.

We had grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato and basil for lunch, and that afternoon the three of us swam in the Lupins' pool as I tired to shake the feeling that something terrible and important was going to happen.

_Could it be _the_ important thing? Harry- or anyone, hypothetically- defeating Voldemort? _I wondered this to myself as we toweled off and went back inside

_No_, I thought suddenly and vehemently to myself. _It's just a stupid feeling. Just forget about it. Nothing's going to happen. _As I thought this, I glanced apprehensively at Teddy, who was wailing again because Tonks had recently made the mistake of trying to put him down for half a second to get him his bottle.

"Sweetie," Tonks crooned, "it's all right, now, calm down, Teddy. Mummy's here. Mummy loves you. Daddy'll be here soon too. He loves his little baby boy too. Shh, shh. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."

I hesitated. I wanted to ask her if she felt like something big was about to happen too, but I felt stupid. I didn't want to sound like an idiot. I was probably reading too much into this all, but Teddy choosing Teddy to be all weird was seriously freaking me out here!

But, after all I had been through this past year, I still had my little bit of stubborn pride, so I sat there, restless and uncomfortable, while a frantic Tonks tried to soothe Teddy, who was also clearly restless and uncomfortable.

Tonks was getting a bit jumpy. She had been confident enough with Teddy until now, but the fact that he wouldn't stop crying was very obviously making her nervous. The one thing that didn't seem to be making her nervous, though, was an underlying atmosphere in the air, so I began to think that it could be possible I was going crazy. She didn't seem to be able to sense a thing out of place.

I somehow got awkwardly through that afternoon, lost in my own thoughts and jumping a mile whenever Tonks spoke to me. That wasn't much of a problem, though, because she fussed over Teddy for most of the day, and while she realized that it was abnormal for me to be so quiet, she didn't really have time to analyze the issues of two different people at once. He was being really, really sensitive today, and that's basically the opposite of his usual self. It got really annoying, if we're being totally honest here.

Lupin came home from whatever Order meeting or event he was at around four. He seemed to be entirely at his ease, in a very good mood, as a matter of fact. He was more loud and boisterous than usual, though I still wouldn't say he was actually loud or boisterous, if that makes sense.

Not long after he came home, Lupin reminded us to turn on Potterwatch, which usually was on around this time on the afternoons that Lee was able to broadcast.

"Hello, folks!" said Lee from the radio. He sounded extremely excited and only took about .000001 seconds to say those two words. "We have huge news, enormous news, gigantic news! I would even go so far as to call it gimundo! Harry Potter is up to mysterious and inexplicable activities! Could these match the mysterious and inexplicable mission he's said to have been given by the late Albus Dumbledore? As the owl on that catchy old Muggle Tootsie Pop commercial says, the world may never know. But it seems to be a good sign."

We all looked confusedly at each other as he paused. Teddy giggled.

"I know, I know. I'm being mysterious, too. But I'm not being inexplicable, so I'll explain what I mean right away. Harry Potter and his two comrades, Mr. Ron Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger, have done what many thought to be impossible.

"Oh. My. God! He can't mean-" I began, but I was interrupted as Lee kept on explaining.

"No, not that," he said jokingly. "They've robbed Gringott's bank. But don't be ashamed of them yet!"

"Do you think they've been Imperiused?" asked Tonks automatically.

"No," said Lupin and I together.

"Who do you think could put all three of THEM under the Imperius Curse? I mean, Hermione? Who could put Hermione under that spell?! And Harry? Ron's been in the D.A., I bet he could defend himself from it too, or else Hermione would," I said with a smirk.

"Now that I've given you all a little time to speculate, it's time for the truth," Lee cut in.

"Now today my guests are Rapier and his brother Rodent. You all know them. So welcome, boys."

"Thank you, L-River," the twins said together.

"Now, I'm going to be telling them this story and they're going to have some side comments for you all because they know each of the trio on a personal level. Okay. Here goes."

"I have to say, this is quite an extraordinary story. The scoop is that Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger ventured into Diagon Alley just this morning. They were disguised as Bellatrix Lestrange and a 'foreign friend'. I guess Ron wasn't much in the mood to socialize this morning. But anyway, there were two more parties with them, unbeknownst to onlookers who were on the streets with them. Harry Potter and an unidentified former Gringotts goblin were behind them under Harry Potter's famed Invisibility Cloak."

"A goblin?! Who's stupid enough to trust a goblin? C'mon, you idiots!" I groaned.

"I really don't think they should have trusted a goblin. They're very tricky creatures," said Fred or George.

"That's true in most cases, but we have to remember at times like this that we must be careful not to be stereotypical. Oh, what the heck, yeah, they're nasty little buggers. But back to the trio. They met a Death Eater as they were walking the streets of Diagon Alley. He thought something was quite suspicious about this whole party. Stay tuned for more about him. They also apparently met someone who was highly angry at Bellatrix, but of course 'foreign friend' took care of that pretty quickly-Stunned, don't get any odd ideas- but the main point is, 'Bellatrix', her 'foreign friend', and an invisible Harry Potter- with goblin in tow- traveled into Gringotts Bank and requested that a goblin take them to the high-security vaults so that they could make a withdrawal from the Lestrange vault. This goblin did not seem to find anything amiss, and assigned a goblin to go with them, obviously. The Death Eater, however, was about to call them on their fraud, when suddenly he became very willing to do whatever Bellatrix wanted. It is the popular belief that Harry Imperiused him, everyone. Like I said, it was inexplicable for now, but I'm sure he had a good reason! Don't get too riled up!"

"Riled up? Riled up?! The one who was supposed to be the hero just used the Imperius Curse! Of course the public's about to get riled up!" I shouted, pacing. Lupin and Tonks didn't even seem to find my behavior odd. They looked pretty tense and stressed themselves, it's just that I don't generally keep things bottled things up, as you can tell.

"I'm sure he had a good reason, River, but you know the nosy people of Britain- haha, joke- won't rest until they know it, so it better get out soon or we could have a situation on our hands!" said one of the twins.

"I agree," said Lee heartily. "All right, enough time for discussion, listeners. Let's get back to the important stuff. The goblin who was assigned to take them down to the high-security vaults is believed to have been Imperiused as well. They were riding down to the high-security section when they suddenly met the Thief's Downfall. Yes, I mean that literally. There is a waterfall called the Thief's Downfall- I think that's right … yes?- that actually washes away all disguises. Harry, in the company of only his friends and Imperiused others- well, and the goblin, but apparently they trusted him too- had taken off his Invisibility Cloak. So here you have Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter sitting in the middle of Gringotts Bank's high security vault area with a goblin who has no recollection of how he got there, but just knows that he is sitting in front of three people who he most likely considers his worst enemies, and who he now has the chance to defeat. Talk about a mess."

"Oh, boy, this day just keeps gettin' better and better!" I cried, throwing up my hands.

"So," Lee went on, "they re-Imperiused the goblin, somehow got past a vicious and partially blind dragon, and got … a cup. Yes. They came in to get a cup. However, it is not just any cup, but a cup that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff herself. I doubt that they got it to drink from. But that's not all, folks. Sorry-didn't mean to sound like-what's that Muggle cartoon- Porky Pig? Anyway. So that something-I-can't-say-on-the-radio traitor of a goblin heard people coming outside the vault and ran out screaming about thieves. Honestly. But being the brilliant people that they are, these three teenagers freed the dragon and flew it out of Gringotts. Talk about a grand exit, guys."

"Definitely," agreed one twin. "I just wish we knew where they'd flown the thing to."

"That's one thing we don't know," said Lee sadly. "But as soon as we do know, so will you, listeners, because this is the absolute latest, because all this happened less than two hours before we went on air. The Potterwatch staff sense something big ahead for the man with the lightning scar. Someone, though it may not always be me, will be here all night to keep you updated as long as things are happening, because it appears that they're going to. There's something in the air, and everyone, tonight it ain't love."

Tonks and I jumped up and down and screamed. We were stressed. Giddy. Worried. Excited. So, so scared. But it was all so … exhilarating! Finally! Something we could help with!

Well, not yet.

We sat back down, listening with bated breath for whatever Lee was going to tell Britain next, but he was just going through with his everyday broadcast while he waited for more special news bulletins. We all were leaned forward listening, not even blinking, waiting for Lee to interrupt and say something good. I went to go get a drink of water just to escape the awkwardness of it all.

"Folks, it's Monday night at the Lupin house and tensions are high," I muttered, walking back into the living room to find that nothing had changed. I wondered if I should go home to be with my family, but I thought dejectedly that nothing would probably come of this anyway. Then I sat back down and tuned myself back into Pottercast.

"-AT HOGWARTS!" Lee was shouting.

"So much for that guess!" I cried out loud, then turned, in a rush, to Tonks and asked, "Tonks, who?! Who?! Who's at Hogwarts?!"

"You know who," answered Tonks. She saw my eyes widen and laughed.

"Sorry," she said. "I meant you knew who was at Hogwarts. It's Harry!"

I put a hand over my racing heart as the other cradled my head, which I shook back and forth.

"Never," I said dangerously, "scare me like that again."

Tonks chuckled. Then she came to a dead stop. "Wait," she said. "I forgot. This is supposed to be scary, isn't it?"

"There's no telling yet," said Lupin.

"Now listeners," Lee was saying, "you know how I hate to get your hopes up. Which is why you'll know I'm serious when I tell you that _tonight could be the night_! Now this. Is. Huge. So while we wait for details, listen to this song. It's a good fast one to get you all good and awake for what could be the most important night of your life."

"Hound Dog" by Elvis blared through the speakers.

"Ohmigosh! This is so … so … suspenseful!" I cried. "Gimme a second."

I ran outside and screamed at the top of my lungs, then turned around without a pause and ran back inside and up the stairs.

"Okay, I'm good," I said, running a hand in front of my face and letting out a deep breath.

"All right, everyone, it looks like there's could be a battle at Hogwarts! Students, don't be surprised! Get practicing!! Now, I'm not calling on a battle, so don't go running around screaming 'WARRRRR!' or 'CHARGE!' or even good old-fashioned 'AHHHHHHHH!' … at least, not until your teachers authorize it. And everyone, don't go rushing out to Hogwarts … yet."

"But here's the deal. I, River, must go and experience this first-hand, and I'm taking Rapier and Rodent with me. Now we will have the lovely-" There was muffled consultation, then Lee said, "the lovely ladies Rome C. and Outlawed Flashback- is that right? Yes. Rome C. and Outlawed Flashback."

"Hi!!" began the new announcers. But I didn't get to hear what they were actually going to tell us, because there was a bang from downstairs at that instant. We all leapt up and pulled our wands out of our pockets. Tonks made one last-ditch desperate attempt to put Teddy down, but she has a good heart along with her maternal instincts, and when he began wailing she sighed and put him back onto her shoulder.

We raced down the stairs, wands held at the ready.

"I'm warning you! You'd better not try anything!" Lupin called down as we cautiously made our way down the stairs.

"Oh, no need to play that game, it's just us," came Fred's voice.

"Oh, all right," said Lupin, sounding relieved as we rounded the last corner to the bottom floor.

"Sorry we didn't knock, but we're in a bit of a rush," apologized George. "Let's go, Ginny. We've got to get a move on. Mum and Dad have already left."

"Left … to go where?" I asked, needing more time for everything to sink in. I knew the answer perfectly well. I just didn't want it to be true.

"Hogwarts!" cried the twins together, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world … which it probably was.

"No, no, no …" I groaned, putting a hand on my forehead and pacing.

"Uh, yeah," replied Fred.

"Let's go!" added George.

And they pulled me out of the Lupins' house.

"Bye," I called weakly to Tonks. She waved, looking worried, and closed the door behind us.

That was it, then. The door was closed and there was no going back. It was time to do this thing.


	43. Chapter 42

**If you want the right atmosphere for the beginning of this chapter, listen to "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne while you read, hahaha. But I'm serious, here's a link to the video on Youtube, but you don't have to watch it. Read while you listen. **

I bit my lip as we walked away from the house. I wasn't sure if I could handle this. I was only sixteen …

_GET A GRIP!_ I admonished myself. _Sixteen is plenty old enough to fight those idiot Death Eaters. You did it last year and you'll do it again. You've been doing it since you were fourteen, for Pete's sake. And think what Harry was capable of at sixteen. You can do it, too._

Nervously, I tried to calm myself down by thinking of something I knew for sure, something solid that I could count on no matter what. _Well, _I came up with a few moments later, _I _don't_ know what this night will bring, but one thing I know for sure: I will never, _ever_ forget it._

That wasn't all that comforting, considering that I knew I could remember it for anything from Voldemort's death to Ron's death to the end of the world as we knew it (not even being dramatic here). And that just forced me to admit that I really had no idea what was about to happen or who would make it out alive.

Without noticing, I allowed myself to be led to the orchard, which was outside the Burrow's anti-Apparition limits. I begged to be told what was going on, but they told me there wasn't enough time, that I just had to listen to them and do what they asked.

I would have to blindly trust my brothers, and, truth be told, that wasn't something I was overly keen on doing. But then I saw the look in their eyes, and it was a dire look. The look in their eyes was imploring me to do this just this once. And I could tell that now was not the time to be distrustful. So I agreed.

Only when we were in a desperate hurry did we ever use Apparition, because I still didn't have my license, and in fact had left Hogwarts too early in the year to take the Apparition lessons. So this would be just the second or third time in my life that I had ever used Apparition, and of course every time I did it was Side-Along. Today was no exception. Distractedly, I took the hand Fred held out to me and we, along with George, turned once, leaving the orchard behind in the last light of the setting sun.

I don't think anything but that airless, lifeless, panic-inducing sensation of Apparition could have snapped me back to Earth quite as successfully.

After far too long of the horror, I found myself in the Hog's Head, gasping for air and kneeling on the floor next to my perfectly composed brothers, who waited patiently for me to collect myself and get up off the dirt-coated floor so we could move on.

"What," I coughed, having stirred up the dust when I fell onto it, "are we doing here? It's grimy, it's disgusting, it's repulsive, it's low-class-"

"And it's got an owner who's about to come down those stairs over there and hear everything you're saying," replied George smartly.

"That it does, that it does," said a voice from somewhere above us. Aberforth, as his named turned out to be, was standing at the top of the stairs, coming down to meet us. I blushed furiously (especially at my ears), and Aberforth gruffly waved his hand.

"No need to be embarrassed, all I caught was what your brother said, and there's no need for me to hear any more," he told me dismissively. "I assume you three're here to get to Hogwarts? Yeah, they all are … Big fight brewing up there, I suppose?"

"I think so," said Fred carefully, "but we can't be sure until we get up there."

"All right, then, let's cut to the chase," said Aberforth. I was glad to see that at least some people could take a hint. He led us towards the back corner of the room, where the stairs were.

"I've had all sorts of people coming through here," Aberforth complained idly as we walked up the stairs. "We've had students who couldn't be at school for one reason or another, we've got the kids' parents, especially the younger ones … we've got the locals … and once that radio show, Potterwatch, announces that they're going to fight, we'll have people coming through here who have no connection to the school at all, mark my words."

"I'm sure you're right," said George dully.

By then we were all standing in front of a portrait, which he had led us to, for some reason. It was of a considerably good-looking girl who was blond and looked fairly young. She slightly resembled Aberforth, which was odd, because I really didn't see a resemblance to Dumbledore. She must have accounted for the part of Aberforth that didn't look like Dumbledore.

After we were all done silently evaluating the picture with our eyes, Aberforth coughed quietly and we moved aside so he could be in front of the portrait. He pulled it to one side, away from the wall it was mounted on, and revealed a narrow tunnel about six feet high.

"And this is how we get to Hogwarts?" confirmed Fred.

"Yup," replied Aberforth casually.

"Thank you," said George, and we all climbed into the tunnel.

I went ahead of my brothers. I wanted to get out of this tunnel and into, well, whatever room Harry was in, as quickly as I possibly could.

About halfway down the tunnel, I heard someone sneeze nearby me.

"Hello?" I called, suddenly jittery. "Is anyone there?"

"Hey, Ginny," came Lee's voice. He stepped out of the shadows. "Where are your brothers? Didn't they come to join the party?"

"Yeah, they did. Man, you scared the wits out of me! Look, I'm going on. Fred and George are back there somewhere."

I continued my light-speed travel through the tunnel until I reached the end, at which point I got cold feet and waited for the boys.

"Waiting for us?" asked Fred, looking confused as he came into sight a little ways down the passage.

"Er-yeah, I- I thought we should all go in together so no one thinks you guys didn't- er- come," I said lamely.

"Whatever, little sister," said George, looking utterly disbelieving. "We'll let your weirdness slide just this once."

I shrugged as if to say "I have no idea what you're talking about!" and clambered out of the tunnel.

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I could see Harry! And he was looking back at me!  
Involuntarily, I gave him my biggest smile ever. It was instantly clear that a year apart had changed nothing. I noticed with satisfaction that he still looked as though he might faint just because I had entered the room. I mean, wait until I started _talking_! I love having power like that. Oh shoot, now I'm talking like a Death Eater …

I shot glances at Harry every once in a while, and gave Cho a smug smile or two at opportune moments after I found that he was often looking back at me when I dared to let myself get a sideways glimpse of him. Don't worry, I didn't throw any death grins at her, if that's what you're wondering. They were just the teensiest bit haughty … if you watched from exactly the right angle …

I just sort of hung around and basked in being reunited with everyone while they all argued about who would fight, or if we were even fighting at all. I knew everyone would wind up helping in the end. Overprotective Harry was just being overprotective Harry.

Smiling slightly, just happy to be back with everyone, I happened to let my eyes wander towards Ron and Hermione for a moment or two. I put my hands on my hips and glared at Hermione as I noted that she was making complete goo-goo eyes while he was having a debate with Harry and not paying attention to her for once. One thought came instantly to mind.

_Oh, God. That girl has it bad._

"Honestly, girl," I muttered to myself, "you can't do _any_ better than that?! Way to be obvious!"

I was about to get up out of my chair and actually go across the room to snap her out of it, but Harry finally gave in to the other two, clearly agreeing with Ron, judging by his submissive hand gestures, and started talking. I noted for the first time that Luna was perched on my chair and, as I listened to what Harry was telling us about the dangers we were going to face tonight and what to do to prepare for them, smiled absentmindedly at her. In return I got an equally absentminded and breathy, "Hello, Ginny. Nice to see you again."

Some things never change. And I do mean that. Never.

As we were talking, Harry was saying, "There's something we need to find. Something- something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who."

I sighed. Oh, great. He was back and vaguer than ever. And this was clearly not what anyone had been hoping for. By the looks on everyone's faces, you might have thought he had said, "Listen, guys … there's this paperwork that needs to be filled out … it's all for the cause, of course …"

He continued, and finally finished with, "Something with an eagle on it, for instance?" while he looked hopefully at the cluster of Ravenclaws in one corner. It was Luna answered him, from the arm of my chair. She told him she thought this diadem of Ravenclaw thing could be the right thing, and he asked when the last time in history that it had been … not lost … was. Cho, of course, was the only one who had any sort of answer to share, which I, also of course, didn't listen to. But I definitely heard her offer to take Harry upstairs to the Ravenclaw common room to see a replica of the diadem. Anger washed over me like a wave of hot air.

"No," I said firmly, "Luna will take Harry, won't you, Luna?" It was a bit of a leading question, but I don't think Luna noticed. Either way, she readily agreed, and Cho, who had gotten to her feet to leave, sat back down, looking dejected. The corners of my lips twitched. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it! You-know-whats (I'll bleep it out for the delicate little children) just bring out the worst in me … Haha, but I'll stop now, before I get mean.

But now it's time to get back to the point. We all sort of burst into very loud, at-least-a-hundred-mph babbling as soon as the two of them left the room. What was with Harry event thinking it was _possible_ that the thing that was going to help him defeat Voldemort was a stupid crown? Was this thing going to help right now, or long-term? Was tonight the night, or was it a false alarm after all? Ron and Hermione mostly kept to themselves off in a corner and wouldn't answer any questions.

"It's just something we need," they said when I asked, as they had to everyone else (no special treatment for being in the family?).

"I'll give _you_ something you need," I muttered grumpily as I slouched away. I heard them laughing a little behind me, but the sound was nervous and a bit eerie.

Oliver Wood and the three Chasers from when I was a kid tumbled one after the other through the portrait hole. Fred and George immediately began to occupy themselves by flirting with the Chasers, while the intense Wood, who didn't mess around, got right to work quizzing the room at large for any information they knew. It was somewhere between "Is You-Know-Who dead yet" and "Is You-Know-Who here yet" that Lupin and Kingsley both slid smoothly out of the portrait hole, just moments apart, and hurried to catch up by getting the full scoop from my parents.

I myself was having a hostile glaring contest with the back of Cho's head while she chatted with that witch they call Lavender Brown. Whoops, no pun intended! I swear!

But as I was saying, I was totally about to win the glaring contest when there was a clatter and I turned reflexively away from Cho towards the portrait hole, in the general vicinity of the noise. It turned out that the noise had been Bill and Fleur making a grand entrance. Go figure. Wasn't it always my family that made the most noise?

And just as _that_ brother crashed through the portrait hole with his girl, _another _one- Ron, actually- was leaving at the other end of the room with his.

"… in the bathroom …" he was saying as he pulled her out of the room by the hand. Hermione looked like he had just said he had a cure for cancer … which led me to believe I really, really didn't want to know what he was going on about. I actually shuddered.

Bill and Fleur joined the exclusive adult huddle, and moments later, Harry reentered the room to explain to everyone what they were supposed to do. As directed, the entire pack who had been waiting around in the Room of Requirement filed- or, really, closer to stampeded- to the Great Hall, where they would await further instructions for the battle that was now eminent. I, as would be expected, tried to go with them, but my mother put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

I just blinked at her a few times. Was she mental?!

"To fight," I reminded her in a slow tone that I hoped said "You're acting like a five-year-old who's gone a little loopy from staying up so late" so that I wouldn't have to take the trouble to.

"No you're not," said my mother, just as slowly and in almost the exact same tone. "Did you really think your father and I were going to let you fight with everyone else in all this danger? You're not even of age yet."

"By two bloody months!" I moaned. Oh, _why_ did my mother have to be so overprotective? Oh, please, anytime but now, Mum, just_ not now _...

My mother grabbed my arm as I tried again to escape the room and follow everyone else up the stairs.

"You're underage!" she shouted angrily at me, losing her temper.

I noticed that Harry was coming up to us from behind her. Would he defend me? I wouldn't want him to have to be in the middle of me and my family, but since I was arguing with my mother and clearly about to lose, I had come to my last resort. This called for drastic measures.

I used my best begging eyes and the most subtle pout I could muster, but it didn't do me any good. He shook his head.

_Of course_, I told myself. _This is the guy who wouldn't even tell you where he was this entire year for fear that it would put you in too much danger. Why on Earth would he help you _now_, when he needs all the help he can get and has almost no chance of succeeding in this outrageous mission?_ I turned bitterly away. I knew I was probably hurting him, but there'd be plenty of time to make up later … right?

I felt like an ice-cold stake had just been driven through my heart. Harry could die tonight, and I hadn't even gotten to talk to him again, and here I was, totally giving him a nonverbal guilt trip! What was I thinking? Now I had lost the argument _and_ made my so-far last communication with Harry rude. Today sure wasn't turning out to be my day.

"Fine," I said quietly. "I'll just say goodbye now, then, and-"

But there was another shuffle-shuffle-thud noise that meant someone had entered the room. I turned around and saw a sorry sight. A highly distraught Percy was getting up off the floor. Wait- Percy? What the bloody-?

Percy began to talk, and, as always, Percy beginning to talk completely wiped my mind clean and just basically zoned me out. It's just something about the boring way he talks … and the boring way he looks … and his boring tone of voice … and the boring things he's saying … but really, I can't figure out why I can't pay attention to the guy.

But somehow I managed to half-hear his apology, since it was just agreeing with all the things Fred was calling him, so it was hardly even him talking. I half-forgave him, but I wasn't overly impressed. He was still my least favorite brother. I mean, the only reason he wasn't being a prat about work was that work had been taken over by the very same people who were trying to kill us. It's not saying much for his kindness when you think about it. Maybe I would take up some of his blind, lofty ways and hold a grudge against him for it. Oo, that sounded like fun!

Once he had finished groveling to Fred, they all started to head up the stairs towards the Great Hall for the battle again. I didn't have time to lose _or_ time to think. This could be my only chance, and I had to go with it. So I just snuck up with them- well, tried to, anyway, before my mother caught me.

I got my parents to reconsider their judgment, and the final ruling on the question of How Should Ginny's Parents Run Her Life Next was that I could stay at the castle, but only in this room. Where there was no battle. And no danger. And no _people_- oh, who was I kidding, why wasn't I just going home? It wasn't like anyone was going to excuse themselves from a duel to come and tell me, "Oh, yeah, I'm fighting this Death Eater, and he's winning. Since you told me to keep you posted, I thought I'd let you know." Face it, I wasn't going to get any more information during the battle than if I were in Timbuktu.

Sulking, I went into a furious reverie (trust me, you don't want or need the mental images haunting you, so details are hereby withheld) until I suddenly popped back to Earth.

My family was leaving the room, and the only ones left behind were Harry and I.

**Sorry I haven't been writing. I've been busy-sick-out … no, I wasn't deciding on an excuse, I've been all of the above!! But the good stuff is coming up now! Can't wait!**


	44. Chapter 43

**Hi! I would like to remind you of a couple of things. First of all, I do not own any of the lines that are in both the book **_**and**_** this story. The ones when Harry and Ginny are in the same room are the same lines, of course. Checked in the book. Oh, and by the way, I really didn't mean that Lavender pun yesterday. I wrote it before I realized she really was a witch. But anyway, enough rambling, get to the story!**

The first words out of his mouth were, of course, "Where's Ron? Where's Hermione?"

I was disappointed that this was the first thing he had to say to me after all this time away from me, but I thought to myself, _Easy, Ginny. He'll talk to you later. He, unlike you, has battles to fight. Just help him get it over with and maybe he'll be done sooner and you can talk. For real._

"They said something about a bathroom not long after you left," I told him, ignoring the fact that my father had just answered, because he probably hadn't been right, whatever he said. He can be very oblivious when it comes to his children, any probably thought Ron was off talking with some old friends or something.

"A bathroom?" he asked, puzzled, almost to himself, it seemed. It was clear he was in a hurry. He rushed out of the room, presumably to check the nearest bathrooms, but was soon back, and the look on his face said he hadn't found them.

"Are you sure they said bath-" he began, but in mid-sentence, something unusual happened to him. Something I couldn't identify. It almost seemed like he tripped on air, though he was standing still at the time … he began to fall, but righted himself. For a moment, his eyes didn't look right somehow, and he was shaking.

I was completely caught off guard. I couldn't speak, I couldn't go to him- I couldn't do anything. Maybe it was one of those insights into Voldemort's mind- but what was I supposed to do when this happened? What did Hermione do to make him feel better?

But suddenly my problem was solved. He stopped shaking as much. His beautiful bright green eyes looked fine again, and I heaved a sigh of relief, my heart still racing. He was panting a little, and smiled slightly as he wiped sweat off his brow.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," he said quietly. "You shouldn't have had to see that. I should go- I need to see if Ron and Hermione are in the Great Hall- maybe they're, er, done with the bathroom? Whatever they needed it for? Yeah, I better go see. Stay here, Ginny. I mean it! I won't have you killed. I would never forgive myself. Now I've really got to go, so I guess I'll see you when all this ends …"

Looking back at me most of the way, and obviously very hesitant to leave me (for more than one reason), he still had to. So he did, leaving me, startled, in his wake.

"Was that," I began slowly and aloud to myself, "my ex-boyfriend, who just had some sort of spaz attack, babbled on about keeping me safe, and then left to get himself killed, all before I had a chance to say anything … or am I seeing things?"

"I wouldn't know," said a voice casually, with a grunt, as there was a small thump from behind me and I whirled around, scared out of my wits. "I just got here."

"Hi, Tonks," I said to the bubble gum-headed young woman behind me, smiling. "But why are you here? Lupin thinks you're at your parents' house, with Teddy."

"I was," said Tonks, "but … I just couldn't stay so far away from the battle! I had no _idea_ how long it would take for me to get any news! I would probably find out about all the deaths at least an hour after they happened, and if someone I know dies, I don't want to be sitting obliviously at home on a comfortable couch listening to the radio. I want to be there trying to save them, avenging them, and knowing I tried my hardest to save them."

"So do I," I replied glumly.

"Why can't you?" asked Tonks, confused.  
"My _mum_ won't _let_ me," I said grumpily. "'_No_, Ginny. It's too _dangerous_, Ginny. You'll get _killed_, Ginny. You're under_age_, Ginny.'"

Huffily, I sat down in a hammock, which promptly flipped and dumped me onto the hard wooden floor. I let out a startled cry as the wind was knocked out of my body. I gasped.

"It's not funny!" I protested as Tonks laughed heartily at the sight.

"I know it isn't," she replied, almost rolling on the floor by now,"but … it's just that … well ... er ... Ginny ... it _is_!"

I sat up, sighed and folded my arms across my chest, pouting.

"Young lady," tutted an old-woman voice from out of nowhere, "I think you're a bit old for the temper tantrum I sense coming on. Don't you agree?"

I glanced around and saw Neville's grandmother standing primly in front of the portrait hole, lips pursed and hands folded very formally in front of her stomach. She looked like an old lady from a story book. One of the evil, rich, heartless grandmothers or greatgrandmothers or an extremely elderly relative who steals the estate from the family with all the cute kids, but who is one of those ones who never really says how they're actually connected to the family, but is called "Aunt". Well, whatever.

"Yes, well, you'd be angry too if everyone you knew could be about to die on the same night and you weren't allowed to help prevent it," I replied airily.

"I probably would, but that doesn't mean I'd throw a temper tantrum," the old lady replied superiorly. I half expected her to stick her nose in the air and sniff haughtily, or to suddenly have one of those warbly, high voices you only hear from old women on TV.

"Whatever," I huffed, defeated.

"Show your elders some respect," the gray-haired woman said angrily.

"Fine. You're right and you win," I said.

Tonks looked at Mrs. Longbottom in awe. "Wow. You seriously got her to say that? You're a miracle worker."

And you won't believe this. Tonks actually went up and shook Mrs. Longbottom's hand. Like she was all starstruck or something. Mrs. Longbottom smiled proudly and patted her hair, blushing like … well, like she wasn't about eighty years old, which, judging by her looks, she was.

Had the world gone mad?!

I was just pondering this when Harry, Ron and Hermione now in tow, reentered the room, bursting in looking quite frazzled. He was obviously in the middle of something, as Ron and Hermione were holding basilisk fangs …

"Ah, Potter," said Neville's grandmother. "You can tell us what's going on."

"Is everyone okay?" Tonks and I asked together.

"'S far as we know," began Harry. He asked a few questions that were his nice way of asking what the heck the two of them were doing here, then Tonks and Mrs. Longbottom asked where Lupin and Neville were. Mrs. Longbottom then headed off to try and find Neville in all the chaos, and Tonks ran upstairs upon hearing where Lupin had gone, no doubt to get to the grounds, where Lupin was leading a team of fighters.

I was just trying to ignore the fact that I was now, once again, the only one not fighting, when, as usual, Harry came through for me.

"Ginny, I'm sorry, but we need you to leave too. Just for a bit. Then you can come back in," he said regretfully but firmly.

Giddily, I ran out of the room as fast as I could, following Tonks. He shouted something as I left, but I couldn't hear him at the time, and I wasn't about to go back in there to find out what it was!

I immediately ran out and started aiming hexes through the broken windows at whatever poor unfortunate soul was down below.

About a minute later, I jumped as a heard a clatter in the Room of Requirement behind me, and then, a few moments later, I could just make out Harry screaming, "OI! There's a war going on here!" Then Ron muttered something inaudable, and Tonks looked at me. I shrugged and yelled, "Coming through!" as I aimed another Stunning Spell at the ground below me, where a couple of Dark Mark-branded guys in short sleeves were hanging around like this was some sort of sick and twisted cocktail party. I decided to blow their pretty little illusion away by scaring them off. It hit one of them, and his buddies, surprised, jumped away.

"Whoa, dude. Let's get outta here," said one "gnarly" Death Eater. Wow. Someone had had a little too much firewhisky tonight, apparently.

It wasn't long before Harry, Ron, and Hermione, for some reason, came back out of the Room of Requirement again. I looked suspiciously at Hermione's pink and giddy face. My brother was bright red, right up to his ears. I rolled my eyes and ignored them. I was pretty sure I got the general idea of what had gone on, but I sure couldn't wait to hear the details from Hermione. Bet it was totally corny.

Tonks ran off when a passing Aberforth mentioned that Lupin had been in a duel last time he saw him, but I couldn't follow, because Harry reminded me, again, as he transformed the Room of Requirement by walking three times back and forth in front of it and then reentered it, to stay safe.

I continued my work with jinxes and hexes until Lupin ran by, pausing, bent double with his hands on his knees, when he saw me.

"Please," he panted, looking up at me, "can you help me find Tonks?"

I stood there for a moment, but, slowly, gradually, a smile bloomed on my face.

"Yes," I said, cheerfully and slowly enunciating each syllable with an involuntary maniacal voice tone and an even creepier facial expression.. "I will be happy to help you find Tonks."

And that was the honest, one hundred percent, complete truth.


	45. Chapter 44

**There is nothing I can say about this chapter …**

We had no trouble finding Tonks, who was Stunning every Death Eater in her path and simply shoving aside the people who were on our side who were in her way as she ran rampant through the castle, frantically asking people whether they had seen Remus … he had brown hair … she couldn't remember what he was wearing today … he was in the Order of the Phoenix, so he was fighting for their side, not Voldemort's … Well, you can probably see why she didn't get very far. She was in too much of a panic to stop and give more than a five-second description of him!

But, like I said, we did find her. All we had to do was say, "Pink hair," and anyone we asked could immediately point the way.

We found her in the Great Hall, where there were innumerable duels going on. It was almost silent, and the atmosphere was almost similar to when someone walks into church late, in the middle of silent prayer. Lupin and I crept through the spacious hall, trying not to make any more noise than was strictly necessary.

There was light everywhere, but most people weren't saying the spells out loud. If they had the skill to surprise their opponents and say the spells silently in their heads, they seized it. There were only a few people, students from my year and Harry's, who whispered the commandments to their wands in order to fight their opponent. Only Tonks was making excessive noise, running loudly through the hall and occasionally stopping to Stun anyone who tried to send a spell at her as she passed them.

"Tonks!" Lupin and I hissed together. She whirled at the snakelike sound that sounded eerily like Voldemort in our state of paranoia.

She bent double, clutching her heart and shaking with silent relief and laughter.

"God, you scared me," she said through her giggles of relief as we hurried to reach her.

"It's okay," Lupin assured her quietly, helping her upright and putting an arm protectively around her. "But why are you here? You're supposed to be at your mother's, taking care of Teddy …"

They walked out of the Great Hall, Lupin gently reprimanding her for putting herself in danger, and Tonks explaining her reasoning. She giggled and kissed him without missing a step. I trailed awkwardly behind them. Clearly, even if there was a war going on, even if they were in grave danger, nothing mattered to either of them as long as they were together.

"Teddy said his first word when I was leaving …" Tonks told Lupin. Her smile faded as she added, "It was 'don't.'"

Lupin had been smiling too, but the corners of his mouth quivered. "I'm sure it doesn't mean anything," he answered. "He was just in a clingy mood today. But that's great! He said his first word. I can't wait to hear for myself."

They talked more quietly as we stepped out the front doors, and I could no longer hear them. Lupin took his arm away from around Tonks' shoulders as they both pulled their wands out of their pockets and we made our way over to a group of fighters. I followed their example and did the same as we reached the little huddle of duelers.

"What's going on?" asked Lupin, concerned.

"Just getting ready to split up and fight, but we're all a little nervous," said one girl, who looked to be about my age, with a shaky smile.

"Don't be," said Lupin, with all the fake confidence he could muster.

I hoped the group hadn't been listening too closely, because though his words said, "Don't be," his body language and tone said the exactly opposite.

We moved on, keeping on the lookout for anyone who was going to give us trouble.

Suddenly, Yaxley, one of Voldemort's inner circle, came towards us, seemingly out of nowhere. He shot me a toothy grin. I shivered, though it was an overly warm June night.

"Hello, child and friends," he sneered. "Prepared to die?"

"It's considered odd to ask yourself questions, you know, Yaxley …" I replied angelically.

"Oh, how sweet. The little girl thinks she can beat me!" chuckled Yaxley.

"She can," replied Tonks bluntly, coming out of the dark area by the big staircase at the front of the castle so Yaxley could see that I had allies.

"Oh, is that right," said an unintimidated Yaxley, with a roll of his eyes that said, "I'll humor you just this once."

"Yes, it is," said Lupin, taking a step forward out of the shadows and into Yaxley's sight.

For the slightest second, Yaxley's cocky grin wavered, but he soon recovered his composure and began to talk again.

"Oh, three against one, eh? Even so, there's no way any of you will come out of this triumphant … the Dark Lord _always_ wins … haven't you learned this by now, you imbeciles? Don't you see? Your side is doomed … the Dark Lord has far too much power for you to bring him down …"

"This isn't a press conference," sneered Lupin. "We don't need your opinion."

Trying to get this over with, he shot a Stunning Spell at Yaxley, who dodged it easily, making it look completely effortless.

"Just as I thought," he said, with, for the first time today, a real smile. "You can't touch me. You can't _begin _to defeat me."

"I can begin and I can end," snarled Lupin.

Tonks and I began to assist him. We casted everything from Stunning Spells to Cheering Charms and everything in between at him, just trying to shake the guy up a little. But it didn't appear to be working too well.

After five minutes, he had managed to dodge them all, we were running low on energy, and we were losing hope. He was breathing heavily, but didn't appear discouraged in any way.

"Let's switch it around a bit," he said.

He began casting spells back at us.

"AVADA KADAVRA! AVADA KADAVRA! AVADA KADAVRA!" he screamed, waving his wand recklessly around. I'm sure he could perform the spell silently, but the words gave off a good, intimidating effect.

Somehow, we managed to dodge his curses and cast spells at him at the same time.

But suddenly, time froze. In slow motion (but definitely not that funny, corny stuff), Yaxley glared directly at Tonks as he narrowly escaped a spell she had shot his way. Pointing his wand at her, he screamed angrily, "Avada Kadavra!!"

Wide-eyed, a helpless Tonks watched, unable to dodge the jet of green light that was coming towards her with amazing speed. Lupin rushed to her side. The spell almost missed her. It hit … right where she and Lupin were connected. Both of them fell to the ground.

I did, too, when I saw them. They were dead. Gone. Any moron could've figured as much. You could see it in their eyes. Their lifeless, dead eyes. No other part of either body showed that they were dead … but when I looked in their eyes, there was no denying it.

Lupin would never hear his son's first word. Tonks would never hear his second, or third, or any other. They'd never see him start school … or graduate school … or get a job … get married … have kids … or do _anything_.

Tears began to run down my cheeks.

"Don't be dead," I whispered.

"Don't."


	46. Chapter 45

**Don't read this chapter if you're already depressed … it's a sad one … But, anyway, sorry for the lack of update. I've been busy, I've been sick, I've had loads of homework, and ... bad news. I'm in the school play, which is going to take up more and more of my time until it finally reaches its peak in April. (I probably won't be able to post at all for a week. Trust me, it's a lot more comittment than you would think.) But anyway, here's the chapter ... hope for more tomorrow! And don't forget to review ...**

"Talk about arrogant," sneered Yaxley. "You really think you, a mere child, can bring the dead back to life simply by telling them _not_ to be dead?"

"No," I sniffed, wiping my eyes, "I do not really think that. But as two of my friends have just- oh, what the bloody hell, why am I talking to you? Avada Kadavra!"

His eyes widened for a split second before the jet of light reached him and he fell instantly to the ground. I screamed in fright.

"Oh my God- oh my God- what have I done now?!" I moaned. "I cannot believe I just- what would Harry say- what will my _mother_ say- oh- oh, God …"

I started sobbing again and sat down on the ground, rocking back and forth in the fettle position.

"Ginny!" someone shouted. I quickly composed myself, wiping my eyes and standing up, brushing the dirt off my clothes.

"Come quick!" commanded Bill, coming into view. "Fred- it's Fred- he's dead! Come on! Come quick!"

"Oh. My. God!" I screamed in exasperation as I followed him. It was all I was capable of saying anymore, and I repeated it over and over with different emphasis and levels of hysteria all the way inside.

"Ginny! Snap out of it! What is wrong with you?" asked Bill, suddenly whirling angrily around on the steps. "Mom needs us all to keep a level head right now, and you're flipping out! Which is totally not like you! What gives?"

"I just killed someone," I replied in a hollow voice.

All the color drained from Bill's face.

"Who?" he asked weakly.

"Oh, what does it matter!" I cried. "But Yaxley, for what it's worth."

"Ginny- why- why would you do that? You're not the kind of person to-"

"He killed Lupin and Tonks," I replied promptly.

"Well, then, it was entirely justified," he answered right away. "But we'd better go get all three bodies- oh, no …"

Voldemort's voice boomed through the grounds, proclaiming its owner "merciful" and able to "value bravery".

"Bull," I muttered. I didn't even bother to listen to the rest of the spiel after I heard about the hour's truce, but, instead, checked my watch (it was eleven), then turned around to get the bodies of Tonks, Lupin, and … Yaxley. I shuddered at the prospect of touching that slime, even if it was only his arms.

I reached the shadows next to the steps, where the three bodies still lay. With a sigh, I picked Tonks up as best I could. I walked two steps and collapsed, shaking.

"I-I can't," I said to Bill, who was behind me, Lupin over his shoulder. "I can't do this right now. With all the stress … it's not exactly a muscle-booster …"

"It's all right, Ginny," said Bill consolingly. "I'll take it from here. It's going to be okay. Maybe not now. Maybe not today or tomorrow. But eventually, things will go back to normal."

"No," I said, quietly but emphatically. "Don't lie to me, and don't lie to yourself. Fred died. Tonks and Lupin died. And the battle isn't even over yet. Who knows who'll die next? No one does, not for sure, anyway. But one thing I do know. Nothing will ever be the same again, Bill."

I got up and left him standing, looking shocked, in the shadowy area behind me.

Inside, it was a mess. There was no fighting going on, but bodies, blood, and shattered objects were everywhere. The dead were being transported through the big double doors of the Great Hall to a table at the far end. Even from afar, I could spot my large, red-haired family crying over Fred's body.

All around me were the cries of those who had lost loved ones. The shrieks and horror-filled gasps as families and friends saw the bodies of those they were closest to brought into the Great Hall, lifeless and empty.

I could see the bodies, all in different positions of final battle, lain out before and around me. I could feel people reaching out to me, trying to take my hand, as they tried to comfort me and tried to get comfort from me in return.

But I was deaf to the noise. Blind to the horrific sights. Numb to the touch of those around me. All I could see was my family and Fred, all I could hear was their crying, all I could feel was their bodies pressing closer to mine as I reached them at last.

The walk through the hall had seemed to take ages, but now my mother was putting her arm around me and we were sobbing on each other's shoulders as my father, Fleur, and Percy stood with George, who was unapologetically allowing tears to roll down his face one after the other.

And why shouldn't he cry? To him, this would be like being paralyzed. But worse. Fred had been his partner in everything. Business. Jokes. Things so private, he would never have trusted anyone else with them, and, I was sure, still wouldn't, now that his greatest confidant was dead. He would never fully recover from this. None of us would. But it would be the worst for George.

Suddenly, my mother pulled away with half a gasp, hand over her mouth as she stared at the entrance to the hall.

"No," she murmured.

I didn't need to turn to know what she was so startled by, but I did anyway. There, just as I had known he would be, was Bill, with the body of Lupin in tow.

"Oh, God- poor Tonks …" my mother began.

And that's when a stranger Bill had recruited brought Tonks through the doors.

It was all too much. My mother ran to my father's side and buried her face in his chest. She couldn't look at Fred or at Bill as he set Lupin beside Fred and assisted the stranger, helping him to do the same with Tonks.

I buried my face in one hand, the other hanging limply by my side. Tears dripped through my finger onto the floor. I had no one to comfort me now.

If only Harry- but, no, I couldn't let myself think that … We were never going to happen. I was already as depressed as I could get, I might as well face the truth while my heart was already broken beyond repair …

I looked up sadly as I heard a murmur rush through the crowd. Harry was standing, poised, in the doorway, Ron and Hermione entering the Hall without him, the beyond-terror-inducing sight of so much destruction distracting them from the fact that he was not following them.

Hermione came straight to me and put an arm around me.

"Ginny …" she said slowly. "I'm not going to say everything will be all right, because it won't- nothing will ever be the same again. But I will say that everything is going to get better. It's not always … it's not always going to hurt this badly. I can promise you that."

In spite of myself, I had to give her a weak smile. Now, that was _true_ intelligence. It was just like I was saying to Bill earlier. To tell ourselves and each other that everything was going to be okay was simply a pretty lie.

"Thank you, Hermione," I said. "You have the most level head of anyone I know."

Hermione smiled. "I work best under pressure," she replied.

"That sure explains why you study for exams three months beforehand," I mused.

"Well, I never said I _liked_ to work under pressure. But I don't always have a choice, really," she added. "I mean, look at who I've got for friends."

She glanced at Ron, and where Harry had been just moments before … but no longer was.

"Friends … or more than just friends?" I asked idly.

Hermione blushed bright red.

"Er- well- now's not the time," she said briskly, but I noticed she had to bite her lip to keep from grinning. I rolled my eyes playfully at her.

"Besides, where's Harry?" she asked abruptly.

"Don't try to change the subject! I'm sure he's around here somewhere," I scolded.

But as I scanned the hall, searching for him, I didn't see any sign of a guy with jet black hair, bright green eyes, and a lightning scar.

"No- no, I don't think so, actually," said Hermione. Taking my hand, she led me over to where Ron was standing, head bowed, with the rest of the men in my family.

"Ron-Ron, do you know where Harry is?" she asked as she released me.

Ron looked up promptly at the sound of her voice. I smirked, not able to help myself.

"No," he said slowly, looking around just as Hermione and I had. "He was there a second ago … wasn't he?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "Where could he be? Do you think he put on the Invisibility Cloak … ?"

"I don't know …" replied Ron.

The two of them walked away, searching for him. I knew better than to follow.

"Alone again," I sighed dejectedly, glaring resentfully after them.

I idly observed a pair of girls a little younger than me crying over a body I couldn't see. One of them cried, "Why, Edward, why?!"

"Everyone's got a guy but me …" I noted sadly. The absence of a guy's arm around my shoulder was very conspicuous, in my mind anyway.

"And us," George began to joke weakly, but then realized his mistake. We both began to cry. George had never been much of the brotherly type, but he hugged me as we both got our first taste of how different life would be without Fred.

After a while, George let go of me and sighed.

"What's the time?" he asked.

I went to check my watch, but it had slipped off at some point.

"Well, it's gotta be close to midnight," I told him resignedly. "Let's get ready to fight again."

"Wait. What if Harry gave himself up?"

I could feel my face turn as hard as stone.

"No," I said fiercely. "He didn't."

"How do you know?" George asked, surprised.

"I don't. But … I'm sure he didn't."

"Why so sure? Harry's a good person. He might have thought it was the right thing to do."

"He better not have," I muttered grumpily as I stomped away, "or I'm going to kill that boy for trying to get himself killed. Voldemort'll be nothing …"

As I reached the entrance hall, George following me, Voldemort's voice invaded once more, this time gruff and annoyed, calling off the truce.

Instantly, the battle was on again. There was a roar of noise outside and inside as fights got started again. It was impossible to hear what Voldemort was saying now.

I went outside to where most of the fighting was. Immediately, one sight in particular caught my eye.

A quite obviously underage girl- she didn't even look old enough to go to Hogwarts, but I supposed she was just small- was trying to protect herself. She was running through the grounds, looking frightened. Clearly, she had decided to stay, but was now regretting it.

I had to stand by and watch as an unidentified Death Eater ran past her, shouting, "Sectumsempra!" as he went, passing her without stopping.

The poor little girl crumpled to the ground.

A Wizarding hit-and-run.


	47. Chapter 46

**Heyy … sorry about the lack of update. But on Tuesday and Thursday, I had play practice, and on Wednesday, I thought I had plenty of time, so I wasn't in any rush, but something came up and I couldn't finish in time to post. So … here it is!**

Gasping, I hurried over to the little girl. I couldn't even think of what to say. "Are you okay" seemed pretty idiotic, but, you know me, that's probably the exact reason why I said it anyway. In answer to my stupid question, the girl just whispered for her mother.

_Oh, no ..._ I thought. _Why-_why_, pray tell- are the worlds such jerks? I don't even know who this girl is … how am I suppose to find her mother? And what is it even safe to do to her? Can I move her?_

I tried again to get her to talk to me by trying to keep her on the living side of the world by talking to her again.

Now was the time for pretty lies.

"It's all right," I told her, barely managing to get the words out. "It's okay. We're going to get you inside."

I was thinking of what to say at the same time I was saying it, in a mental frenzy, but trying to stay calm on the outside. This panic brought new meaning to "we'll make it up as we go along," I'll tell you that much.

"But I want go _home_," she answered in a pained voice, as though each word cost her energy she would never get back- as though these were the words of a dying person.

"I know," I said, my voice breaking with my heartache for this poor little girl. "It's going to be all right."

Suddenly, I looked up reflexively as I felt a slight breeze, as if made by the cloak of someone who was walking past me.

I mentally shook myself. No! I had to stop being paranoid and focus on helping the hurt girl.

"I- can you tell me how many fingers I'm holding up?" I asked stupidly as I turned my head, looking around to see who might just have brushed past me and caused that breeze (as I busily ignored me yelling at myself for lack of concentration), distracted from my self-appointed task of mothering the little girl now.

Of course she couldn't see how many fingers I was holding up. She was on her stomach. And I wasn't even holding up either of my hands, anyway.

_All right_, I told myself. _Enough being paranoid. It was probably just that- a breeze. Time to get back to … Nameless Injured Child No. 1. _

"Can I help you roll over? Is it okay for me to move you?" I asked, trying not to look at the girl's still-bleeding wounds. I was starting to panic

I was totally out of it. Dazed. I had never seen so much death and pain in one place. The smell of blood and death was dizzying- and it was probably, from the sight before me, mostly coming from the little girl in front of me. And that scared me. I was starting to panic- after all, how much longer could she possibly keep losing so much blood and still live?

But, snapping back to Earth, I heard Nameless Injured Child agree weakly that I could move her inside, where she could be safe.

"Bill! George!" I called desperately.

George hadn't made it far after coming outside before he got right into the battle. He was fighting with some Death Eater I didn't recognize just several yards away.

As soon as I called, he Stunned the guy and hurried over to me. It was extremely evident that he did not intend to lose any more family members tonight, judging by the fact that he had just ditched a fight to come help me without even knowing what I needed.

"This girl- I don't know her name- but she's hurt, George," I said. I got up and came closer so I could talk without her hearing. "I think she's going to die very soon if she doesn't get help. She needs to see Madame Pomfrey right away. Will you help me get her inside?"

"Sure," George replied, not hesitating for a moment.

Gently, he lifted her into his arms, though they had already been shaking with the night's horror without the girl's weight (which, now that I thought about it, couldn't be much anyway, with her size).

As he walked away, I followed him, walking across the front lawn of the school, avoiding fights the whole way and sending a painful, harmless jinx here or there if someone looked like they were about to give us trouble or if a Hogwarts student was clearly about to lose a fight and obviously needed some passing assistance to… well … survive.

It took a lot of skillful dodging of multi-colored lights (it was like a sick kind of light show out there), but we eventually did reach the wide stone steps that led to the giant, wooden double front doors that led into the entrance hall of Hogwarts.

There were many other very somber and depressed-looking people carrying the deceased and injured inside the castle. It looked almost like a funeral procession, except that every single person was carrying a body. It was fairly eerie.

It was a full fifteen minutes, two or three heart attacks, and a lot more dodging later, we had crossed the Great Hall, which was packed with people fighting jeering at each other.

We finally cleared the masses, however, and made it to the raised platform where Madame Pomfrey was taking care of the many wounded. It was a devastating sight, seeing all those people who might not even make it through the next twenty-four hours all lined up in front of me.

George set the girl on the table.

"Madame Pomfrey," I said.

"Madame Pomfrey!" I repeated insistently, when she didn't answer me the first time, but, apparently not able to hear me, continued assisting a moaning boy about my age.

I was determined that at least someone should live tonight. And if it were because of me, then all the better.

"Yes, dear," she said crisply, standing up and turning to me, almost tripping over Unnamed Little Girl.

"Oh!" she cried, startled. "Oh, dear. I see you've brought me little Charlotte Helmes. Oh, my. She was just asking for it, sneaking back here, a little thing like her … Poor girl …"

She immediately began to examine her with a gentle but persistent touch. No matter how many times Charlotte flinched away or moaned, she just murmured, "It's all right, dear … Just let me see your injuries, there, there, now …"

She was still bleeding, but Madame Pomfrey soon put a stop to that with a casual and practiced flick of her overworked wand.

"You go ahead and get back to what you were doing, I'll take care of her," she assured George and I.

"Thank you," George said, turning around to leave and go back into the grounds to fight again.

But when he noticed that I wasn't following him, but was instead looking up and down the platform and watching Madame Pomfrey care for all the various injuries the people before had sustained, he asked, "Are you coming?"

"No," I answered, shaking my head and voicing what I had been thinking this entire time. "You go. I have to see someone live tonight."

George nodded solemnly and began to dodge his way back across the Hall.

"That's very sweet of you, dear," said Madame Pomfrey, smiling sympathetically.

I thought she would add, "but I've got this under control, and you really should go help your brother," but she didn't.

It was clear that she understood that I, like young Charlotte Helmes, wanted and quite possibly needed a break from the horrific battle, whether or not my wounds were the kind that were visible and physically treatable.

I was completely silent as I watched her treat the many people who were all lying on the raised platform, waiting for her tender care and attention. She was astonishingly gentle with the injured, and her experience showed in her every movement.

I turned around and skimmed the Great Hall with my eyes, taking in the scene as best I could when it all still felt so unreal.

The thing that really puzzled me was that, after the hour-long truce was up, the fighting had resumed throughout the Great Hall and all around me, and was still going on, but not anywhere within a few yards of the platform.

I wondered why the Death Eaters, in true bad-guy fashion, weren't taking the weakened state of so many of our wounded fighters as an open invitation to prey on them.

Not that I _wanted_ them to or anything, but it just struck me as unusual- and possibly ominous.

I resolved to ask Madame Pomfrey about this the next time she came over to check on Charlotte, which I knew wouldn't be very long from now, considering that she was caring for all of the patients almost overattentively.

Sure enough, she was soon by Charlotte's side again, right next to where I was standing just off the end of the raised platform and leaning my elbow against it.

"Madame Pomfrey," I said slowly, as she finally managed to persuade Charlotte to take more medicine and helped her work it down, "why isn't there any fighting going on right around the platform? It seems to me like normally they would be using our side's injuries to their own advantage."

I watched and realized that, amazingly, Madame Pomfrey had gotten Charlotte sitting up when she was taking the medicine, and she was actually protesting, in a voice as strong as any- this simply could not be the tiny shell of a girl George had brought inside earlier, an inch from death at the time.

"Because dear," she answered, gently helping Charlotte lie back down to rest and smiling at her before looking at me and answering. "This is where they're supposed to send their wounded, too. It's what you'd call 'base,' I suppose. It's neutral. But, of course, most of the Death Eaters and the fighters for their side are too proud to come and let an inferior Order of the Phoenix supporter like me. I do pity them, but, ah, well. What can you do? If they want to die, then . . . well, who am I to stand in the way of a person's right to make their own choices?"

I smiled and nodded in conspiratorial agreement. Gosh, I never knew the old woman's mind was secretly so devious.

But then I began to serious consider what she said, and it sickened me.

"'Base,'" I muttered. "Huh. Some sick game of tag this is. If you get tagged, you don't get to be '_it_.' Instead, you die."

Madame Pomfrey looked a little bit startled, but nodded grimly, beginning to pull back areas of Charlotte's hair to check her for head injuries- for the third or fourth time.

Though she was, as I've said, gentle, she was also very firm, and whenever Charlotte flinched away, she murmured reassuringly, "It's all right, Charlotte … just let me see … you'll be fine," and continued with her examination promptly.

Getting bored, I watched the goings-on in the Great Hall. Suddenly, I noticed that everyone was flocking towards the doors, heading into the Entrance Hall and outside.

"What do you think all the fuss is about?" I asked.

**Haha a would-be cliffhanger, except that this is based on a book that was already written. I'll just see if you remember what comes next. Might I recommend you listen to Mugglecast on while you wait? Haha, I'm hooked …**


	48. Chapter 47

**Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Sorry so many times I can't fit it on this page! I've just been so busy, but- here it is! And I hereby promise to write more. I now have much more writing time. This has been months in the making- sentence by sentence. There's been a lot going on. It would be longer, even, but I'm trying to convince a certain Cicily B not to hate Harry Potter. Gotta go! Enjoy! (Listen to "Brave" by Idina Menzel while you read.)**

I ran to the doors. I shoved through the mob of Death Eaters at the doors to the entrance hall (the one time during the battle where being smaller than everyone else was an advantage) and came to a dead stop when I made it in.

"NO!" McGonagall was yelling.

And I knew- I _knew_- what was happening- no. What had already happened.

"Oh, no, no, no-"

I pushed my way brutally to the front of the crowd, the tears already running down my face faster than ever before. I had never cried this hard in my life.

"Move," I sobbed, shoving people aside and hearing Ron and Hermione's cries behind me.

"Harry!" I cried, and that's when I saw him.

He was in Hagrid's arms. Dead. His eyes were closed. That-that-_thing_ that was Voldemort stood before him, petting his snake like- like he hadn't just killed the potential savior of billions of people.

My heart stopped, I swear to God.

My worst nightmare was coming true in front of my eyes- but what could I do about it? This was it … there was nothing left to live for … Harry was dead, and every single person in the castle would be by the end of the night. Oh, no doubt about that.

But my initial reaction wasn't to think about everyone in the castle- oh, definitely not. I'm too selfish for that. What was my first thought?

_There goes my future. _

Because, some small part of me had always believed, since I was ten, that Harry was a part of my future, or a part of _me_, even, maybe. I know it sounds totally sappy but- oh- oh, whatever. Moving on, then. Where was I? Oh, yes. My boyfriend. Dead.

"HARRY!" I yelled.

This could not be true. It just couldn't. I wouldn't believe it until I had all the facts, the explanations- I wanted the scoop. Big-time. Because there was no other way that I was going to believe that my ex-boyfriend (who I still loved and who still loved me) was … dead and gone.

"SILENCE!" yelled Voldemort.

There was a bang, and, as usual, he got what he wanted.

"It is over!" he cried.

As much as I hated to admit it, he was completely right. We no longer had any hope of winning this war.

"Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!"

"Oh, that's low. That's really low," I muttered with disgust. "He has to put people on the _ground_ just to make himself feel better? God …" Then my eyes widened. I realized what I was doing.

I was talking. After Voldemort had put a Silencing Charm on us all. Which apparently hadn't held.

Suddenly, the hope was back. I grinned with joy and didn't hear the next thing Voldemort said.

"He beat you!" my youngest brother was calling when I tuned back in.

"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds, killed while trying to save himself-"

It just goes to show how much I trusted Harry that I didn't believe Voldemort's lies for a single fraction of a second.

Suddenly I noticed Neville break free of the crowd. I watched with a flinch as he was shot down easily by Voldemort, making an odd noise out of pain.

I listened, absolutely and completely horrified, as Voldemort blatantly and shamelessly offered Neville a job as a Death Eater. I gasped.

"Oh no he di'n't," I said, shocked.

"I think he did," replied Luna pleasantly behind me.

"Dumbledore's Army!" Neville shouted at the front of the crowd. I screamed and cheered with all my might in response along with the others.

Voldemort answered with an icy tone, "Very well. If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head be it."

He lifted his wand and flicked it at one of the shattered windows high above. A crumpled heap in an oddly bird-like shape flew out of it.

Voldemort lazily waited for it to reach him, and, upon having it land in his hand, shook one pointy end to unfold it. It was crumpled, had extra tears, and was dirtier than ever, even since the last time I'd seen it at the Sorting, but it was still the Sorting Hat.

If even a relic that was considered so valuable was harmed, it was obvious that the battle had gotten out of hand while I was in the Great Hall.

But what I didn't get was where he was going with this. What did the Sorting Hat have to do with Neville? If he wanted to know if Neville was a Slytherin (the hypocritical, half-blood, prejudiced git) he could just _ask_. It's not as if anyone would lie to him. It was no use, he could tell anyway, and besides, he'd just kill you. Totally aside from that, Neville would also never claim to be a Slytherin, he hates them, they've all been horrid to him …

My thoughts trailed off but came shooting back down to earth as soon as Voldemort spoke again.

"There will be no more Sorting Hat as Hogwarts," he announced dramatically.

_Weird_, I thought. _Doesn't he want to Sort people just so the Slytherins can make fun of them because they're not in their house?_

"There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salizar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?"

He then pointed his wand at Neville, who froze and allowed the Sorting Hat to be forced onto his head.

Now this was just getting weird …

Everyone began shifting and murmuring, but the Death Eaters held up their wands and the entire crowd got still again as Voldemort began to speak once more.

"Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me," said Voldemort.

Holding his wand, he gave a slight flick of his wrist, and, immediately, the Sorting Hat, still pulled firmly down over Neville's eyes, burst into flame. I gasped and jumped back. Screams sounded all around me.

Now the fire was spreading, Neville was generally catching on fire- he wasn't moving- all was chaos- I could swear I saw Harry twitch- hundreds of people's worth of noise was thundering towards the castle from the boundaries, many loud war cries.

"HAGGER!" shouted … something … that was coming around the side of the castle. Not quite sure what he was, but I'm fairly sure it was a small giant. Some bigger ones (who, I might add, didn't look like they were about to ask him to sit down to tea any time soon- quite the opposite, I wouldn't want them to look at me like that) who obviously weren't on the same side as him … well … answered. They caused a rather large earthquake and stampeded towards him, to be more specific.

Also, I saw centaurs riding towards the Death Eaters, shooting bow and arrows at them as they came riding up. I wouldn't want to have them against me, either, so I was glad to see that they had decided to grace our side with their presence, being that they are self-righteous and think they should stay out of such petty matters as bloody, horrible wars that kill millions of people.

But I wasn't paying attention to any of this. What I was paying attention to is the fact that my supposedly "dead" boyfriend had just opened his eyes, pulled his Invisibility Cloak out of his robes, and put it on.

Dead people aren't supposed to do that.

I wanted to scream for so many different reasons- frustration, joy, anger … but mostly joy. But as no one else seemed to have noticed, and they all still thought the world was pretty much ending, it didn't seem like the time. So I figured that there was nothing I could do for Harry right now and I might as well pay attention to what was going on and help someone I could actually see.

Neville was suddenly able to move again (another sign that Voldemort didn't seem to be able to control us, for some reason). The hat fell off of his head, and he picked it back up, pulling a ruby-hilted sword out. Gryffindor's sword.

What the ….

He promptly cut off the head of Voldemort's pet snake. Voldemort began to scream, but over the noise of the battle which had picked up again out here on the grounds, it wasn't heard by anyone. The body of the snake fell onto the ground at his feet.

Out of nowhere (literally), a Shield Charm came up between Voldemort and Neville. I allowed myself a little smile as I glanced over to where the spell had come from.

Now one loud voice stood out above all others; "HARRY!" yelled Hagrid frantically. "WHERE'S HARRY?"

No one answered him in the madness of war. I wished I could, but he was too far away for me to get to so that I could tell him without announcing it to everyone and spoiling the whole thing for Harry.

Now Hogwarts defenders were coming from all sides; thestrals, hippogriffs, and the giants which served for both sides, in essence, just stumbling around and causing everyone to either stay alert or get trampled.

The battle at large was being forced gradually to move back towards and into the castle by the clumsy giants and dangerous animals.

I ended up drifting with the crowd back into the entrance hall, where inexplicable Shield Charms seemed to be popping up everywhere. The crowd seemed to be growing by the second. Hogsmeade shop owners, families of Hogwarts students, the house elves who worked in the kitchens- everyone and anyone was there pitching in.

Hermione and Luna had somehow ended up fighting Bellatrix over by Voldemort. I joined them, ducking and swerving with light shooting out of my wand for what must have been more than a minute straight.

"AVADA KADAVRA!" screamed Bellatrix.

She was aiming straight at me.

**Happy now, Payal?**


	49. Chapter 48

**Hurrah! Another update. Reminder: I don't own the quotes that are also in the book, of course. Now, here's the BIG chapter … yeah, THAT one … the BIG one … go on, read it already!**

The curse missed me by an inch. I felt it brush past me and shuddered. Suddenly, I was shoved aside. Almost falling over with the force of the shove and struggling to regain my balance, I saw that it was my mother who had barged in.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH! OUT OF MY WAY!" she shouted, shoving us all aside.

She started with some fancy wandwork that was hard to follow. I was pleased to see that Bellatrix didn't have her normal cool, collected, haughty grin on. It faltered, and suddenly she was snarling at my mother.

It was like a twisted kind of laser light show; lights of all different colors were flying through the air between my mother and Bellatrix, and I leapt back as the ground inches from me started cracking and getting hot.

A few people from my year and Harry's tried to help my mom, but she wouldn't let them.

"No!" she cried at her would-be helpers. "Get back! _Get back!_ She's mine!"

Talk about possessive of your children.

I now noticed that everyone had pushed off to the sides of the hall. The only ones still fighting were Bellatrix, my mother, Voldemort, and his opponents, who were McGonagall, Slughorn, and Kingsley. This was tension like I have never felt before.

Now Bellatrix began going for emotional attacks.

"What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" she taunted, somehow making the dodging, swerving, and advanced wandwork seem like some brutal dance. "When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?"

I glared at her, fury building inside me. She had stooped low.

"You- will – never – touch – our – children - again!" my mother shrieked furiously, her face screwing up in anger. And that's when it happened. She made the same mistake as Sirius.

She laughed.

Must run in the family. But- back to the story. My mother shot a Killing Curse. It seemed to go in slow motion (to "Eye of the Tiger," of course) under Bellatrix's arm, which was extended towards my mother, with wand in hand, and hit her chest, directly above her heart.

Bellatrix's eyes bulged, and she fell backwards onto the hard marble floor.

The crowd was roaring and cheering and whistling and just generally making noise, while Voldemort screamed in shock and fury. With an impatient wave of his wand behind his back at the three wizards he was dueling, he turned towards my mother. The threesome flew through the air and slammed into the wall at the back of the hall, sinking to the bottom. It would have been extremely comical in any other situation, really.

"Protego!" came a painfully familiar voice from nowhere; for a split second the crowd became quite noisy as they speculated on where it had come from, but their questions were soon answered.

There was a collective gasp and Harry suddenly came gradually into view as he pulled off what I assumed was his Invisibility Cloak.

I had never heard anything so loud. Everyone screamed, yelled, and whooped with joy and reinstated hope. But suddenly, they realized what this meant, and the atmosphere changed instantly; this meant a huge confrontation that wasn't going to end until one of them died.

One way or another, the world was about to change.

They were circling each other. It was like something out a movie, but it wasn't funny, and it wasn't lighthearted …

I was halfway through the crowd and into the middle of the Great Hall before Harry said loudly, "I don't want anyone else to try to help. It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."

I knew he had his reasons, so I stayed back in the crowd like an obedient little girlfriend. I heard Voldemort hiss and shuddered again.

"Potter doesn't mean that," said Voldemort. His bright red eyes were wide. "That isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"

"Nobody," said Harry bluntly. "There are no more Horcruxes."

"What did he just call him?!" I hissed to Luna, who I once again found myself standing next to. (Stalker.)

"It's just you and me," Harry was saying. "Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good …."

"One of us?" Voldemort said with a sneer worthy of Snape. Education goes both ways, I suppose. "You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"

He looked like he was ready to strike, but Harry stayed calm and collected as Voldemort continued to taunt him in front of the entire school and their families, as if he were simply having a slight disagreement with Malfoy. In fact, he answered evenly, keeping his head held high and not looking ashamed at all.

"Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me? Accident, when I decided to fight in the graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?"

I didn't completely understand what Harry was saying about defending himself (like an inside joke between Voldemort and him, you know) but I got the gist of it.

Voldemort was screaming at Harry now, but he wasn't phased, and if he was, he didn't show it. Finally, all those years at the Dursleys' had paid off.

"You won't be killing anyone else tonight," Harry was telling Voldemort, and I praed he meant other than who had already died, not other than himself. Why did he have to be so noble?!

Harry continued, "You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people-"

I glared.

"But you did not!" Voldemort interrupted.

"-I meant to, and that's what did it," Harry was answering. "I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture them. You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"

Voldemort complained about Harry using his full name, and Harry went on telling him how stupid he was, and would he like to be told a few things before he made any more mistakes.

"Is it love again?" Voldemort asked sneeringly. "Dumbledore's favorite solution, _love_, which he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop him falling from the tower and breaking like an old waxwork? _Love_, which did not prevent me stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter – and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curse."

"Au contraire," I muttered, trying to fight my way through the crowd. But my mother, a few feet in front of me, stopped me and pushed me back.

"You don't understand what's going on here. None of us do. So you can't interfere," she hissed as she turned back around to watch the fight.

"I understand he's going to die!" I pouted grumpily.

I had no choice but to sit back and watch the scene; Voldemort was laughing a spine-chilling, horrible, cold, humorless sort of laugh at something Harry had said.

Voldemort scoffed at Harry about how he knew more magic than even Dumbledore, which Harry was quick to correct him on, telling him Dumbledore had been too great a man to use the magic Voldemort had.

"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!" protested Voldemort.

"You thought you did," said Harry, "but you were wrong."

This was news to me (and, by the sound of it, everyone else, too) as much as it was to Voldemort. I shushed the people around me to hear what would be said next.

"_Dumbledore is dead!_" shrieked Voldemort.

"Yes, Dumbledore's dead," agreed Harry placidly, "but you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant."

Voldemort tried to tell him he was wrong, but Harry announced to the crowd's surprise, "Severus Snape wasn't yours. Snape was Dumbledore's, Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother. And you never realized it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?"

There was silence. Both in poses resembling hunting stances, they continued to circle each other.

"Snape's Patronus was a doe," said Harry, "the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children."

Voldemort's slit-like nostrils flared, and Harry told him, "You should have realized, he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"

Voldemort protested and started going on about how Snape had moved on and all that, but Harry pointed out that of course he wasn't about to tell him that it had made him so angry he had switched allegiances. Voldemort, defeated, went to a weak argument along the lines of "it doesn't matter, they're both dead, and so's Dumbledore."

They bantered for a while longer, agreeing that Dumbledore's plan had gone wrong, and then Harry said, "Try for some remorse, Riddle …."

Voldemort looked utterly offended.

"What is this?"

"It's your one last chance," replied Harry mercifully, "it's all you've got left…. I've seen what you'll be otherwise …. Be a man … try … try for some remorse …."

More back-and-forth, then Harry announced, "Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It's backfired on you, Riddle."

After such a long chat, it was now obvious that the moment was near. Make or break.

They started going on about who really owned the wand in Voldemort's hand. Harry decided that he was, which I gathered meant it wouldn't work on him- if he was right, there was nothing to be afraid of. He'd be fine. But _was_ he right?

A voice rang out. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

Another one came, more familiar, "_Expelliarmus!_"

There was a sound like several gunshots at once, and the spells collided in gold flames right in between the two of them.

Then, Voldemort's wand flew out of his hand and spun through the air to Harry.

And for the second and final time, a Killing Curse backfired on Voldemort.

The battle had come full circle.


	50. Chapter 49

**I actually started this within minutes of the last chapter … it's short, but that's because there's just not that much to say. She's just waiting for Harry. (Can't wait to write the next chapter!)**

Ron and Hermione were there instantly, throwing their arms around him, tears streaming down Hermione's face, though she was smiling.

I hurried up and threw my arms around the group, along with Luna and Neville. Soon, my entire remaining family plus Hagrid had joined me.

I knew nothing but screaming for a full ten minutes, pressed against Bill, standing in front of me, as everyone mobbed Harry and screamed.

Then, the crowd began to diminish as Aurors, my mother, and all the sensible people insisted that everyone let Harry … breathe. But, of course, he went to sit down at one of the House tables that had been pushed up against the wall, and people still came up to thank him profusely in twos and threes. I sat with my mother, raising my eyebrows as I silently noted Ron and Hermione walking out of the Great Hall hand-in-hand.

I just sat there, staring across the room at George's body with my head on my mom's shoulder, for who knows how long. I would be happier later … it wouldn't always hurt this bad …

I don't think it really sank in for me immediately just how much life was going to change. But change it would.

For now, however, it was a time for subdued mourning. Everyone, and I do mean _everyone_, had lost someone (if not many people) who were close to them during the war. This was an extremely bittersweet victory. So many people had been lost. Everyone just had to focus on that no more would be.

I saw Harry glance at me, then look away, going over to Ron and Hermione, who had reentered the hall and sat down on a bench near the door. He said something to them, and the three of them got up and walked out, talking quietly as they did so. I heaved a heavy sigh as I looked at the place where they had disappeared.

"Don't worry. He'll be back," said my mother quietly and slightly absently, stroking my hair.

I looked at her in surprise. I wasn't sure if she was talking about Harry or Ron. Of course she knew Harry and I had been going out, but mothers should be clueless about your boyfriends. It's just … the way it is.

"I know," I replied uncertainly.

I stared over at Lupin and Tonks' bodies, lying on the floor.

"Mom …" I said slowly, "what will happen to Teddy?"

"I'm not sure," she answered shakily, wiping her eyes. "I'm not sure, sweetheart … Harry's his godfather, you know … and I'm sure he'll want to personally make sure that Teddy's life as an orphan isn't anything like his was before he went to Hogwarts … or after, mind you … those poor boys, both of them … but I think Teddy will go to his grandmother for now."

"Who's his godmother?" I asked.

My mother hesitated, then answered slowly, "Well … Tonks wanted you to be, Ginny …"

"And why can't I?" I asked indignantly, taking my head from her grasp to stare at her, annoyed.

"I wasn't sure you were ready, if it ended up … well, like it did, and you had to take care of Teddy. But, as it is, his grandmother made it through, so he can go to her, and by the time it's your turn to take care of him, you'll be old enough. So I suppose you can."

"Good," I said, settling back down.

Making me and Harry Teddy's godparents … just another way of getting us back together … it was just the thing Tonks would have done. She was always a romantic.

I started thinking. After this year, it seemed like I had been in school for more like ten years total. I couldn't even face the prospect of another year stuck being the only one at school.

"Do I _have_ to come to school next year?" I asked sadly.

"Yes," replied my mother instantly and firmly.

I sighed again.

"I hate being the youngest," I muttered.

"Oh, hush, it's only one more year, and, who knows, I'm not sure what Ron, Harry, and Hermione are doing next year … they might have to come back and take their seventh year again, with you, then they'd be in your year … I don't think there's ever been a situation like this where someone didn't take school at all for a year," my mother mused.

"Yeah, well … they just seem to be the exception to every rule, those three, don't they?" I answered moodily.

"Yes … they've had quite interesting lives, haven't they … always something. Always something."

"Always Voldemort," I corrected her.

She blinked when I said the name, surprised, though not afraid, but quickly recovered to say, "True …"

Everyone was roaming the castle now, looking for Harry and celebrating happily. Only a few people, who, like us, had lost family members just tonight, were sitting silently in the Great Hall, not ready to let go and be happy just yet.

Eventually, the teachers came in and asked us all to stand up, putting the House tables back in place. Everyone gradually made their way back into the Hall. House-elves came nervously upstairs from the kitchens, setting the tables, not making eye contact or speaking, squeaking as though startled whenever someone spoke to them.

Everyone was eventually seated, and suddenly food appeared on the plates before us all. Everyone who had dared to come to the battle and not yet left (parents, friends, nearby neighbors of the school) tried to sit at whatever table they had been in back in their days at Hogwarts, but the Gryffindor table soon overflowed into the Slytherin and Hufflepuff ones.

I looked around for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but I didn't see them. It was a few peaceful hours after the feast that Harry came back into the hall. He gave everyone who came up a very quick, obviously (to me) forced smile, making his way over to where I was now sitting and talking with Luna.

It took a few minutes, but he did make it over to our table, and I smiled as he approached. He did, too, looking for all the world like someone had recently taken Earth off his shoulders.

"Hey, Ginny. Want to go out in the grounds with me for a while?" he asked.

I jumped up.

"Sure," I said quickly.

**That wasn't supposed to come out so wrong, so sorry if it did. Hope you liked the very short chap. Expect more soon!**


	51. Chapter 50

**Ahh! Just one more chapter after this. There WILL be another chapter, though, so don't stop checking back just yet. I'll be posting an epilogue and a final author's note tomorrow, if all goes well. And the sequel will be starting by the end of the month. It would be sooner, but I want to write a few oneshots. This is another short and sweet chapter. **

"Bye," Luna said absently, waving at Harry and I as we left.

"Er- bye," said Harry with a sort of half-smile. "She hasn't changed much, I see?" he muttered to me.

"No, not really," I answered. "Luna's just … Luna."

"True."

"So- how are you?"

"I'm … okay. I'll be better later," he answered uncertainly, glancing down the Hall at Tonks and Lupin's bodies as we walked.

"Don't feel guilty," I pleaded. "It's not your fault."

"But …" he sighed. "Just think how much I took away from them both. They just got married! And they have a kid- he's- how old now?"

"Er … a couple weeks," I said sadly.

"Yeah, see! Only a couple weeks, infants can't have their parents taken away- who knows what'll happen to him-"

"I'm sure he'll be okay, he's going to live with his grandmother from now on, you know, she seems okay," I assured him. "Once you get past the fact that she could be the twin of Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Yeah … hard to leave him with someone who looks like her, isn't it?" he said.

"I suppose so," I said. "Don't beat yourself up, Harry, she'll let you help take care of him, he won't have horrible relatives like you did that he has to go to … he'll grow up in a magical household …"

"Well, okay, suppose he's fine … your mum is never going to recover. No one in your family is. Especially not George."

I knew he was talking about Fred. I blinked.

"Harry," I said slowly. "I will _not_ let you blame yourself for that. Yeah, we're always going to be terribly sad about it, but we are never once going to think it's because of you. You didn't cause the war. If you hadn't come along, all these people would just have died faster, and now no more are going to, see? It's all right now."

"But there didn't have to be a battle tonight!" he replied.

"Of course there didn't. But there had to be one sometime," I reminded him gently. "Even if you didn't get involved at all- which, I might add, would be impossible, and Voldemort would still be alive, so don't get started- there would still have been a final battle where Voldemort either died or- or took over the world." I swallowed. Even though he was dead, it was still hard to talk about what could have happened tonight, especially with saying his name.

Harry sighed.

I turned and took him by the shoulders.

"Harry," I said, looking into his eyes. "I know you. This guilt is going to eat you up and you're going to stress yourself up about it- don't, what's done is done. You're the only one who blames you! Everyone but you views you as the biggest hero in history!"

"I don't know about that, but I know everyone else thinks it," sighed Harry. "They don't know the whole story, though."

"I doubt it would change their minds, unless, of course, it was really you killing all these people all along and framing Voldemort. Which it wasn't. So it doesn't matter, does it?" I said matter-of-factly.

"I suppose not," he said.

I smiled. He gave a slight smile back.

"How have you been?" he asked.

"Mmn. It's been okay. Not nearly as bad as what you've been dealing with," I responded.

"You don't know that. Let's hear it, then," he said with finality, sitting down on the grass near the lake.

"Well … where do I start?" I asked.

"How about … the second I left the wedding," he replied with a smile, lying down with his hands behind his head, ready for a story.

"Well …" I began with a deep breath.

It must have been hours before I finished. He didn't care, though. He was a very appreciative audience, listening very well and never letting his attention stray so much as to play with a blade of grass. He never took his eyes off me once.

I laid down and watched the clouds while I talked, and when I was finally done, he propped himself up on one elbow.

"Want to hear everything- _everything_- that has been going on for the past two years?" he asked.

"I thought you'd never ask," I replied with a smile.

"Now that Voldemort's gone, I can tell you anything …" he said. "So I'll start with when Dumbledore came and picked me up before sixth year and took me into a broom closet and told me I'd have special lessons from him during the year, all right?"

"Sure," I said.

By the time he finished his story, the stars were coming out and everything was bathed in a beautiful moonlight.

We went for a walk around the lake after that. I saw Ron and Hermione headed back to the castle from over where we were.

"Didn't you say they were together now?" I clarified.

"Yeah. Erm … going on twenty hours now, I'd say?" he replied matter-of-factly with a grin.

We both laughed, swinging hands as we went.

"So," he said, "now that Voldemort's gone, we can see each other again, if that's still what you want."

I rolled my eyes at him, though I doubt he could see it in the dark.

"Of course I do," I said.

"Good. I mean, so do I," he answered.

"Good," I said with a smile.

I kissed him, and this time there were no doors for Ron to barge into, or any Ron to care, as he was presumably still off with Hermione somewhere.

We started walking again, and we crossed the grounds, waving at people leaving the Hogwarts grounds or taking strolls of their own.

We reached the doors and kissed again, then looked in through the open doors of the school, through the entrance hall and into the Great Hall at all of the people standing around, celebrating in their various ways- there was butterbeer, dancing, and an incredible amount of noise coming from the partygoers.

"So," he said after a while. "Who's going to tell Ron?"


	52. Epilogue

**LAST. CHAPTER! Here it is. The epilogue. I'll be posting a final author's note when the sequel comes out- maybe tomorrow, maybe Thursday. I'm not sure what it's going to be called yet, but that'll be announced in the author's note, too. Also, one more note before you start reading- this is the one and only completely serious chapter. This isn't a pick-me-up, be warned.**

I walked into the funeral parlor, Harry by my side. My head was down. Hermione stood on my other side, tears running down her face as she held Ron's hand so hard he had a pained expression on his face, though she didn't notice, and I wasn't sure if that was from her hand or grief anyway.

After all, we were at a funeral for our brother and two of our very good friends.

The funeral procession for Lupin, Tonks, and Fred was remarkably long- there were thousands of people. Almost all the Hogwarts students and teachers for Lupin and Fred, lots of Aurors who had known Tonks, the entire Order of the Phoenix, of course, and various other neighbors and friends of all three of the deceased people.

The chapel in the parlor was huge, and held about five thousand people. Everyone fit, with a couple thousand seats to spare.

I looked around. There was no lighting except for many elegant red candles nestled in strips of evergreen draped around the chapel. It was only the beginning of June, and the day was unseasonably hot, but the church's stone walls and lack of lighting kept it damp and cool.

The funeral parlor was near Hogsmeade, and it was run by a witch, so the evergreens were floating, and the black, gold-trimmed drapes on the pulpits had magically been embroidered with the words "R.I.P. Fred Weasley" on one and "R.I.P. Remus and Nymphadora Lupin" on the other.

Because the procession had gone through many Muggle areas, everyone had been asked to wear Muggle clothes. It wasn't a catastrophe like it had been at the Quidditch World Cup, because everyone had only taken the trouble to get the basics- a plain black dress or tuxedo.

All the men looked the same, each wearing their generic black tuxedos, but the women each wore something different. I had a short-sleeved, black silk V-neck on with my finest pearls and the front of my hair pulled back into a second layer which I had tied magically with a black silk ribbon that matched my dress, which was paired with peep-toed heels. My mother was in a ever-so-slight scoop neck with her hair in a magicked bun with a large hinged clip, dabbing a pristine handkerchief to her eyes as she stumbled along in pointed stiletto heels. Hermione wore a velvet dress with triangular, low straps, up-the-leg strappy sandals, and a necklace with large black pearls. Her hair, which had been straightened, then crimped, fell neatly but unintentionally around her shoulders.

The entire scene was beautiful and tragic, but that didn't matter in the slightest.

We were at the front. The coffins were open, and we reached them all too soon. I looked in at Fred.

Fred still had a sort of half-smile on his face. In his coffin had been placed George's ear, several items from the joke shop, and a portrait of all of us kids, my parents, Harry, Hermione, and Fleur, which had been taken at the wedding.

I then moved on to Tonks.

In addition to a certificate she had gotten when she became an Auror, there was a portrait of her and Remus at their wedding, smiling and waving in their everyday clothes, as well as one of Tonks throwing her head back and laughing and Remus grinned and played around with Teddy at home, which must have been very recent, as Teddy, being carried in by a sobbing Andromeda Tonks, was still young enough that no one had tried to put him in black, and he had no idea what was going on at only three weeks. But he could tell that no one was about to play with him, that everyone's faces were wet when he tried to play with them, and maybe even that Mummy and Daddy were gone, though not that they weren't coming back. He didn't look very happy, his bottom lip quivering.

Glancing at him, a single tear fell onto the paper as I put my letter in Tonks' coffin, along with a pink rose the color of her hair.

We moved along to Remus' coffin, and Harry made a strangled sort of sound, wiping his eyes and coughing, but not crying.

I gazed into Remus' coffin. Next to his body were a picture of Sirius, James, and him (Pettigrew must have taken the picture, which was obviously why it had been chosen) as well as a photo of him and Tonks kissing (I have no idea when that was, but it's likely it was at their wedding), one of them (Tonks flaunting a large belly) and my mother in the Burrow sitting room sometime during my school year, and one of Teddy sleeping in his crib. He had not been a material person or very socially accepted, so his was the emptiest coffin, holding no status symbols. He had been a simple person, and there was nothing to give him for tribute that he would value. Only love.

We filed past the coffins and waited to be hugged and kissed and murmured apologies to by everyone who walked by. Harry and Hermione walked down the row, silently kissing everyone and taking their seats in the first row, waiting for us to come into the pew as well, maintaining a respectful but (on Hermione's part) tearful silence.

At first it was all right- solemnly greeting Order members and kids like Luna and Neville who I knew. But then there were the Ministry people who were just there because they felt like they were obligated because of Tonks. They didn't care, they didn't want to be here, and it showed. And it was those people who just ruined our day of true, quiet mourning and sharing real, consoling memories of Tonks, Remus, and Fred.

It seemed like days and days before everyone had been greeted by "the family" and taken their seats in the chapel. I'm not sure exactly how long it took, but it was hours and hours, truthfully.

We finally sat down, my arm aching from handshakes, my cheeks wet from kisses instead of tears, and my back aching from Hagrid's huge bear hug. I sat down next to Harry and put my head on his shoulder, letting my tears drip onto his shoulders and shirt. He didn't mind, but put his arm around me and stayed still and solemn as we waited for the service to begin.

It sunset by the time the organ preludes began. They played songs I wasn't very familiar with for most of the time, but they also played "Amazing Grace" and a couple of famous concertos. I couldn't name them or tell you who wrote them, but I recognized them.

The atmosphere in the chapel was very subdued, especially up front where the people who actually cared were sitting. There was a slight murmuring coming from the back of the church, where uncaring, insensitive people discussed business deals, the reception that would come afterward, and what time they would get back to the office.

"Please be seated and silent," said the priest.

There was instant silence and he cleared his throat before continuing.

"We are here to pay our respects to the deceased and the grieving," he said.

Just like with most funerals, the speech that followed was not personal or worth paying attention to. It didn't capture Lupin, Tonks, or Fred- and how could it? We were here to pay respect to the dead, as the priest had reminded us all, yet the speech seemed unfitting and disrespectful. It almost seemed as though thinking you can fit the essence of a person into a single speech- such a small amount of words, compared to the complexity of the person- was extremely _dis_respectful.

"Nothing is forever …" droned the priest.

It was all so … _generic_. So impersonal, so cold, so formal. So irrelevant.

The service was an hour long, which seemed like ages, and then we all got up, sticking close to each other and comforting each other by the touch of a familiar and understanding person.

We headed into a big hall for a noisy reception. The hall had a high ceiling, was painted with shining gold and silver designs on white walls and amazingly complex paintings on the ceiling. The hall had an enormous buffet table that stretched the entire length of one side of the room, manned by uniformed attendants in addition to wonderfully crafted tables and chairs with gold cushions, all of which were works of art in themselves. You could tell it was Andromeda who had paid for most the affair, and not my family, upon her firm insistence.

Many people came up to give their "sincerest condolences" again, but it didn't mean anything more the second time around. It was getting bothersome. If they didn't want to be here, they didn't have to try to make up for it with obviously forced apologies. I think some of the people who were telling us that they were so very sorry didn't even know our names or how we were related to Fred, Tonks, or Lupin. They were just going by our red hair and jumping on the bandwagon, checking whose hand everyone else was shaking, whose eyes were filled with tears.

The reception was a banquet with stuffy, rich foods like fish with mushroom filling and vegetables I had never even seen before. I just had some of the dishes from the first course- a salad and horrible dandelion wine. Later, this course was followed by the main course (the fish and overly gourmet foods), then dessert- puddings, trifles, pies, and scrumptious-looking various other foods made of chocolates and creams.

Trifle is my absolute favorite food, but even that didn't help on such a dreadful day.

Our table, which was faced horizontally at the head of the hall, while all of the others were pointed towards ours, was near silent, except for the occasional "Sorry" if we bumped into someone as we ate or "Excuse me" if we got up to get more food or use the bathroom.

The banquet took a while, but it did eventually have to end. We all exited the hall into a corridor that led to a side door, which we all walked through to get back to the procession of cars.

My family, Harry, and Hermione were at the head of the procession in a long black limousine, which normally would have been an experience I would never forget because of the sheer amount of luxury the car provided, but which I would now not be quick to forget for much less positive reasons, which would leave limos with much more negative connotations for me personally.

I sighed and stared moodily out the window at the tauntingly sunny day. We drove through a small town first, which was oddly storybook-village-like, then through open countryside, watching forests in the distance, and purple snow-capped mountains even further on, which looked tall enough to touch the baby blue sky and the high, wispy, fair-weather clouds that hung so far off in the sky.

In a few hours, we arrived at home. The procession had broken up as people had gone their separate ways, back to their homes, and their families … their whole, complete families.

The driver came and opened up the door unnecessarily for my family (including Harry and Hermione).

Without a word, we all entered the house. Hermione followed me into my room, taking out her wand to fetch her sleep clothes from her suitcase, shutting the door behind her as Ron and Harry passed quietly, headed up to Ron's room for a good, long, hopefully nightmareless and undisturbed sleep.

I got into my pajamas too, and then Hermione climbed into the cot we had brought in. I climbed into my bed across the room.

"Goodnight, Ginny," she murmured, rolling over under her sheets.

"'Night, Hermione. Sleep tight," I answered. Then, as an afterthought, "Thanks for being here for Ron and me."

It must have been the largest amount of words I had spoken all day.

d a large black-pearl necklace.ar, low straps, up-the-leg strappy sandals,ed clip, dabbing a pristine handkerchief to her eye


	53. Author's Note

Hi, everyone! It's the author, not Ginny, but none of this is going to be in bold, because this chapter is just one long author's note. Sorry.

Time for … SPECIAL THANKS! Yayyy! Time for my friends to get credit.

Shout-out to … Erin! Sarah! Payal! Abbi!

Thanks to Erin for always being there and encouraging me to write more with her! Yay! And also for finally READING HARRY POTTER! Three cheers, everyone.

BIG thanks to Sarah! Sarah helped me set up my fanfiction account and got me back into writing. Without her, there would be no story! No twilighthp95! No me-as-I-am (which goes for all of my friends, FYI)! So goodie.

Now, for Payal! My Mugglecast buddy! My Harry Potter lifeline! You should hear us babble on for half an hour straight about Harry Potter nonstop … So thanks, Payal! (Also, she's the one who got me to update again, to an extent, so props for that.)

Abbi! Who doesn't read this fanfiction! So this is useless! But I'll say it anyway. Abbi's not really into Harry Potter, so she doesn't make me update or serve as an outlet for my Harry Potter energy, but everybody needs friends, right?!

Now. A huge-huge-huge thanks goes to you guys!! In particular those of you who allllways review. You are SO helpful and I love reading your reviews. I'm not exactly thrilled with my own writing, so it just shocks me some of the compliments I've gotten! I don't deserve them, but they sure do inspire me!

Okay. Now for some plugs. (Remind you of Arthur Weasley? But not that kind of plug.) For instance … watch RENT, listen to Mugglecast, and read the following fanfictions: "Sweet Merlin Get Away From Me," "Tremors" (a RENT fanfic), and "Tears In the Music" (a Twilight fanfic). ("SWGAFM" is a Harry Potter one.) They are all wonderful (though the Harry Potter one I would surely rate PG-13, but it's still so hysterical that I'm reading it).

Here's the plan. I was recently thinking of doing some oneshots, but I really don't feel like it, so, um, that's that. Within minutes of this post (so, probably by the time you read this) the sequel, titled "Life After Death," will be posted! The first chapter is going to be the funeral. It'll be the same as the one I posted in here (but maybe a few alterations at the beginning to make it make more sense for being the first chapter of a story). But don't get mad! Along with that chapter, the plan is for me to post a brand-new chapter about Ginny's journey to Hogwarts during her seventh year. I'd write about the summer, but it probably wouldn't be all that interesting! There are only so many things that can happen to a seventeen-year-old on summer break at her own house. The good part starts when she graduates Hogwarts. Read and review, please!  
Over and out,

Twilighthp95


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